Tad Cummins, Elizabeth Thomas Latest News: Former High School Teacher Appears in Court
Elizabeth Thomas has been rescued for a few months now, but there's still no end in sight for the whole sordid affair. Tad Cummins, her former high school teacher who stands accused of taking the 15-year old across state lines for sex, appeared in court on Monday, Oct. 30.
In the course of his court appearance, the federal judge has set a new trial date for the 50-year-old's case. The former teacher will now face trial on April 17, 2018, according to WKRN TV.
Several of the former high school teacher's family members also showed up at the hearing, according to WSMV.
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This new date is several months further than the original January date for the trial. Brent Horst, the lawyer representing Cummins, expressed his concern about the amount of media attention that the case was getting.
Horst also announced that they will be filing a motion to address the issue. He has not revealed to Federal Judge Aleta Trauger what it would be, however, other than just confirming that they are not filing for a change of venue.
The lawyer plans to have their motion written by the time the Thanksgiving holiday is over, and have it filed and under seal by early December, before the pre-trial motion's deadline of Dec. 8.
Tad Cummins, a former teacher in Maury County, stands accused of transporting a minor across state lines for sex, as well as state kidnapping and sexual contact with a minor.
He was a health sciences teacher in Culleoka before he was suspended a month prior to the incident when he was reported, kissing the then 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas in a classroom.
He would later take Thomas with him out of the county on March 13, sparking an amber-level alert nationwide manhunt for the couple that lasted 39 days. They were later seen in a cabin in a remote part of California, shortly before authorities cornered them on April 20.
