Tad Cummins and Elizabeth Thomas at an Oklahoma Wal-Mart. One of her siblings described her as a “social butterfly” who was happy with life before she went missing. We’ve got to get her the help she needs,” said the father. “Because we love her so much, we’re going to be patient with her. He said the family had not yet spoken with Elizabeth as of the morning of April 21, but that she was expected to be flown back to Tennessee later in the day. ![]() “Do you think she was brainwashed?” host George Stephanopoulos asked Thomas, who was flanked by some of Thomas’ siblings. “She’s been with Cummins for a little over a month now and after that sort of thing, after that sort of ordeal she was through, it’s going to take some working with her for awhile,” the father said. “We want her to know we love her,” Thomas’ father, Anthony Thomas, said on Good Morning America, the morning after authorities said they’d found Elizabeth in a northern California cabin with Cummins, who was then arrested. The father of teenager Elizabeth Thomas – who was found after a month on the run with her 50-year-old former teacher, Tad Cummins – says he thinks the 15-year-old was brainwashed. Trauger was the first judge in the country to use the act to release a prisoner, Tennessee's Matthew Charles, who was released in 2019.WATCH: News Exclusive: Family of kidnapped teen Elizabeth Thomas speaks out following her being found in CA: /lDnwE72wmH The law gives judges more discretion in sentencing offenders for nonviolent crimes, particularly drug offenses, and strengthens rehabilitation programs for former prisoners. The next day, Trauger appointed the Federal Public Defender's Office to determine whether he is eligible for release.Ĭummins' request was made in connection to the 2018 First Step Act, a criminal justice reform law signed by President Donald Trump. The letter was entered into the federal court record on July 15. He suggests he may be able to serve the sentence at his daughter's home. “I believe that my medical issues pose a clear and present danger to my health and my life in the event of a COVID-19 infection and together with my conduct during incarceration constitute 'extraordinary and compelling reasons' to warrant my immediate release or release to serve the balance of my incarceration/sentence in home confinement,” he writes. He also presents a record of good behavior inside the prison since his sentence in the letter, detailing how he has tutored other inmates and that he is an active member of the Christian community there. District Court Judge Aleta Traugher, Cummins cites severe hypertension, obesity and gastroesophageal reflux disease as the health problems that put him in a high-risk category for complications of the virus. ![]() A Tennessee prison once ranked among the highest outbreaks in the country as the virus moved through the system. In June, as many as 80 federal inmates nationwide had died from the virus, prompting inmates at one Alabama facility to sue the Department of Justice. The pandemic has hit prisons and the criminal justice system hard. He is currently being held in Talladega, Alabama. ![]() ![]() The Tennessean typically does not name victims of sexual abuse.Ĭummins wrote a letter earlier this month asking that be released to home confinement in light of the spread of the novel coronavirus in prisons across the country. They were found at a commune in Northern California in March 2017. He became the subject of a nationwide manhunt for more than a month after he took a then-15-year-old student across the country. Tad Cummins pleaded guilty in April 2019 to federal charges of transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of engaging in criminal sexual conduct and obstruction of justice. A former Maury County teacher who pleaded guilty to charges related to child sexual abuse last April has asked the court to consider a compassionate release due to his risk of contracting COVID-19 in prison.
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