Tad Cummins Still Has Teaching License After Alleged Kidnapping Of Elizabeth Thomas

Disgraced teacher Tad Cummins still has his education license — despite being behind bars for allegedly kidnapping a former student. The Tennessee State Board of Education was expected to finally revoke Cummins’ teaching license Friday.

Cummins, 51, was accused of abducting Elizabeth Thomas, a 15-year-old former student of his at the Culleoka Unit School in Maury County, Tennessee. The two were missing for 38 days before they were finally located in a remote part of northern California.

Read: Elizabeth Thomas’ Family Prepares For ‘Highly Emotional’ Tad Cummins Trial

Before they disappeared, school officials and local authorities were investigating Cummins for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with Thomas. Maury County Schools also reported him to the state board in February and recommended they suspend him after he had continued contact with her, The Tennessean reported Monday. Despite that, Cummins’ teachers’ license record showed he was never suspended and never had his license taken away.

It appeared Cummins would finally have his license, which he held since 2014, revoked this week.

“[Cummins] was notified by certified mail of the board’s intent to revoke his license based upon these findings and of his right to a hearing,” the board said about its impending decision, according to The Tennessean. “[Cummins] received notice but did not request a hearing.”

The former teacher was arrested April 20 for the alleged kidnapping after a tipster successfully led authorities to Cummins and Thomas. He was charged with transporting a minor across state lines with intent to commit sexual acts and obstruction of justice. Cummins pleaded not guilty to the charges but remained behind bars after a judge deemed him a flight risk based on his actions during the alleged abduction.

Cummins was previously set to stand trial in the case July 25, though his trial was recently delayed to January 2018. Dumaka Shabazz, the public defender representing Cummins, successfully got the trial postponed after arguing he needed to conduct additional research and investigation in the case.

Prosecutors alleged Cummins manipulated Thomas and forced her to flee Tennessee with him. Cummins’ defense attorneys, however, said Thomas went with him of her own volition. An attorney for the Thomas family promptly shut that idea down, calling it “amazingly absurd” and saying the situation was very clearly “a case of kidnapping.”

Read: Elizabeth Thomas Did Not Go Willingly With Tad Cummins, Family Attorney Says

It remained unclear whether Thomas would testify against her former teacher once his trial begins. Her family, however, said they would be present and were preparing for the “highly emotional” trial.

“[Going to court] is going to be very difficult,” her father, Anthony Thomas, told People magazine earlier in July. “We’ve spoken many times as a family. [Going to court] is just something we’re going to have to go through.”