Tad Cummins' Daughter Breaks Silence On Alleged Elizabeth Thomas Kidnapping

The daughter of alleged kidnapper Tad Cummins said despite the past month’s events, she’d be sticking by her father. Ashley Cummins, 26, said she would be there for both her mother and her father in the coming days.

“He was the definition of what a good father should be and he still is,” she told Inside Edition Thursday. “I believe that. He needs to at least know that everybody’s not against him.”

Tad Cummins, 50, was apprehended by authorities in a remote part of northern California April 20, more than a month after disappearing from Tennessee with 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas. Elizabeth was reunited with her family, while Cummins was arrested. Charged with transporting a minor across state lines with the intent to engage in sexual activity, the former teacher was expected to face a minimum of 10 years in prison if convicted.

Read: Tad Cummins And Elizabeth Thomas Found More Than A Month After Disappearance

Ashley said she would visit her father while he remained in jail. Her mother, Jill, planned to have no such relationship with him.

“I have to let them have a relationship with him,” Jill Cummins told Inside Edition. “I have to understand that. But they know he did wrong too and they’re standing by me 100 percent. They’re wonderful, wonderful girls and their daddy would be proud of them for them stepping up and being there when he wasn’t.”

Cummins was Elizabeth’s former teacher at Culleoka Unit School in Maury County, Tennessee. He was under investigation by police and school administrators for an inappropriate relationship with her following reports from an unidentified student who claimed to have seen them kiss inside his classroom. Elizabeth left home March 13 for a local restaurant but told her family to call police if she wasn’t home by dinnertime. An Amber Alert was issued for Elizabeth soon after and police immediately suspected Cummins of abducting her.

Read: Everything We Know About The Disappearance Of Tad Cummins And Elizabeth Thomas

Jill filed for divorce shortly after Tad and Elizabeth went missing. Upon seeing her ex-husband again for the first time, he revealed shocking details of his time with Elizabeth.

“I said, ‘Well, did you sleep with her?’ And he said, ‘Yes I did,’” Jill told Inside Edition. “And I didn’t want any details, but I knew the truth. I just wanted to hear it from him to me.”

Before the two disappeared, she never suspected anything romantic might be going on, Jill had told reporters. Thomas and Cummins were close, but in more of a “father-daughter” way, she noted.

“I discussed that with him,” she said. “And explained to him, ‘She’s your student, you can’t be so close to her.’”

Jill said that she would respect her daughters’ relationship with their father and that despite everything, she still loved her ex-husband.

“You can’t not love him, but it’s different now,” she said. “I don’t trust him anymore and we’ll never have what we had before.”