Professor 'grooms' teenager, forces her to leave home and travel across the country with him
A Tennessee teenager whose 50-year-old teacher, in an attempt to flee justice, took her across America for 38 days has finally spoken out in her first sit-down interview about how she feared the repercussions if she did not comply with his demands, People reports.
“I did [feel trapped] because my little sister was there and all my family was there,” Elizabeth Thomas, 16, says in an interview with ABC’s 20/20 airing Friday night. “And if I didn’t go, something bad would happen to them.”
ABC News' Eva Pilgrim asked her if she feared for her family's safety after Tad Cummins, her health sciences teacher, instructed her to come along. Elizabeth responded by saying, “I mean, whenever he’d threaten me, and especially with guns, wouldn’t you believe that?”