NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Federal prosecutors argue Tad Cummins is a flight risk and “danger to the community” and should therefore remain detained pending trial, according to WKRN News 2.
The government’s arguments are outlined in documents filed Monday hours before the 50-year-old appears in a California court for a detention hearing.
The former Maury County teacher is accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Thomas, a 15-year-old student, and transporting her across the country to partake in criminal sexual activity.
Cummins appeared before a U.S. Magistrate in Sacramento, California Monday and was ordered to be held in custody, pending his subsequent transfer to the Middle District of Tennessee, to await trial on the charge of transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of engaging in unlawful sexual activity, announced Jack Smith, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Authorities say Cummins “planned and executed an audacious scheme,” ultimately wanting to take Thomas to Mexico “and beyond for his own purposes.”
In arguing why he should remain detained until his trial, prosecutors explain how Cummins “began plotting his escape” with Thomas from the moment he was suspected of having an improper relationship with her earlier this year.
He’s accused of travelling in disguise and using various techniques to avoid law enforcement, including taking back roads to travel through 9 states, disabling the GPS on his wife’s 2015 Nissan Rogue, and switching the license plate twice.
Cummins reportedly “made a number of damaging admissions to law enforcement that provide alarming inside his mentality,” the documents states.
The former teacher reportedly admitted to leaving before he was criminally charged in an investigation about improper sexual behavior with Thomas in an attempt to avoid those charges.
Cummins also allegedly admitted to employing measures to elude capture, such as using aliases for both himself and Thomas, leaving a deliberately misleading note to his wife, and monitoring news outlets through a device he purchased while on the run.
According to federal prosecutors, he also admitted plans to cross the border of the United States into Mexico.
Cummins reportedly “procured a small watercraft and conducted a test run to cross into Mexico across the water from San Diego.” He also reportedly considered the feasibility of crossing by land, saying he planned to travel even further south than Mexico.
The 50-year-old is due in court at 4 p.m. Monday where a judge is expected to decide on the matter.
He remains jailed in Sacramento, California. It is unknown when he will be returned to Tennessee.