Tad Cummins May Face Statutory Rape Charges After Allegedly Kidnapping Elizabeth Thomas: Report

Tad Cummins may face additional charges, including statutory rape, as prosecutors seek recordings of a call between the former teacher and his soon-to-be ex-wife after he was caught for allegedly kidnapping Tennessee teen Elizabeth Thomas, a NewsChannel5 report said Thursday.

“I said, ‘Well, did you sleep with her?’ and he said, ‘Yes I did,’ and I didn’t want any details,” Jill Cummins said in an interview with Inside Edition. She had spoken to her husband while he was at a federal detention in Sacramento, California.

Read: 10 Things To Know About Elizabeth Thomas' Alleged Kidnapper Tad Cummins As He Appears In Court

Thomas is 15 years old, and according to Tennessee law, individuals below the age of 17 do not have the legal right to consent to sexual activity. Therefore, sexual activity with the minor may result in prosecution for statutory rape, even if consent was given.

While it is possible for Jill — who filed for divorce from Cummins weeks earlier — to testify against her husband in case he faces the statutory rape charges, prosecutors are seeking recordings of the conversation between the 50-year-old and his wife, according to local news network NewsChannel5.

Prosecutors are reportedly looking to use his words, along with information they gain from his former student and victim, to pursue a new charge of statutory rape. It is also expected to aid the prosecutors in making the case against Cummins on the other charges he already faces.

“They are interviewing her and doing forensic analysis to see if they get evidence and get her side of the story, and from that side of the story, you could see more crimes charged in this case and submitted to the grand jury on down the road,” the network’s legal analyst Nick Leonardo was quoted as saying.

Cummins was the teen’s teacher at Culleoka Unit School in Maury County, Tennessee, and was under investigation by police and school administrators over reports the teacher and Thomas had been seen kissing in his classroom. The source was an unidentified student who claimed to have seen it happen.

Cummins, accused of abducting Thomas and going off the grid for over a month, made his first appearance at a federal court in Tennessee on Tuesday. While his daughters were present at the courtroom, Jill did not come out to see her husband.

“It’s very selfish of him to have done this to us,” Jill had said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” last month. “I do love him, but I don’t trust him anymore. He’s totally betrayed me.”

At the court Tuesday, Cummins was appointed a public defender as he said he couldn’t afford to hire a private lawyer.

He is currently facing charges on one felony count of “transporting a minor across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity,” along with two state charges of abducting and grooming Thomas.

On Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara D. Holmes read out the possible penalties Cummins faces for the charges against him. The penalties include a minimum 10 years of jail time and fines of about $250,000, the Tennessean reported Holmes saying.

If convicted, Cummins could also end up in prison for life. He is expected to be back in federal court Friday.