Found Safe TN - Mary Catherine Elizabeth Thomas, 15, Maury County, 13 March 2017 #1

[DatelineFan]

How did they punish the child? Am I missing something. I haven't read anything about that.

If you mean the one week it took them to recognized that there was a problem, then yeah, I agree. Maybe the principal was a bit slow to take action. But one week is hardly an unreasonable amount of time for the school to investigate and take action on something like that. IMHO. Especially since the case was kind of complicated. They can hardly fire a teacher instantly the minute one single student makes an accusation against a teacher with a 100% clean record.

Of course that problem was solved when the teacher forced them to take additional action, with his insubordination. That action was taken immediately, with no delay.

She was suspended from school for entering his classroom, I believe. The school definitely failed here.

 

[immeal]

Interesting that on that link above it mentions tc and his wife had picked up ET to take to church. No teacher student boundaries whatsoever


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[Rachel1]

Lets hope today is the day she is found! This has went on long enough!

 

[JerseyGirl]

Elizabeth's father hired an attorney who wrote a letter to the school admonishing them for “brushing” him aside.
https://mgtvwkrn.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/thomas-packet-to-media.pdf

Here is the article it was pulled from: http://wate.com/2017/03/20/school-documents-show-relationship-between-missing-teen-teacher/

other info:

So far, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has received 250 tips from 24 states.

Thomas’ mother hasn’t had contact with her five minor children in over a year. There are 10 children in all, but five of the children are adults. In Jan. 2016, Mrs. Thomas was charged with four counts of child abuse and neglect. A family friend we spoke to denied the allegations tied to the charges were true.

 

[Ontario Mom]

The teen is one of ten children, and her mother is facing five counts of child abuse, WTVF reports.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tad-cummins-50-accused-of-kidnapping-15-year-old-girl/

Interesting. Can't help but wonder if there might be more to this than meets the eye.

Still trying to catch up from yesterday but I watched an interview with her dad yesterday and it was said that HE is the legal guardian of the 10 kids. So yeah, there is a heck of a lot more to all this, than meets the eye. A whole lot of dysfunctional family stuff going on, sadly.

Good seeing you here, btw.

 

[tlcya]

case being discussed on GMA right now

 

[JerseyGirl]

On page 59 (under Licensed, Employee Information), you'll see that Tad's wife is employed by the Maury County Board of Education:

https://mgtvwkrn.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/thomas-packet-to-media.pdf

 

[Rachel1]

I can't help but to feel anger over this case. I feel angry because it appears that this girl has been treated unfairly. The school did not handle this situation properly at all. If they had handled it better, things may be very different right now. This child should have never been punished for visiting his classroom after the incident. Instead that should've been an indicator that the child needed immediate help. I'd love to know what resources they offered this girl if they didn't even feel the need to call her parents after the incident was reported! They should've offered this child immediate assistance like counseling and should've brought her parents into the school immediately to discuss this. I feel like this child may have been failed on many levels. The school should've reported the incident to dfcs if they didn't know what else to do.

 

[JerseyGirl]

I can't help but to feel anger over this case. I feel angry because it appears that this girl has been treated unfairly. The school did not handle this situation properly at all. If they had handled it better, things may be very different right now. This child should have never been punished for visiting his classroom after the incident. Instead that should've been an indicator that the child needed immediate help. I'd love to know what resources they offered this girl if they didn't even feel the need to call her parents after the incident was reported! They should've offered this child immediate assistance like counseling and should've brought her parents into the school immediately to discuss this. I feel like this child may have been failed on many levels. The school should've reported the incident to dfcs if they didn't know what else to do.

The reaction amongst the community is that Tad's wife stepped in during the investigation (she is a member of the Board of Education of that town), and everything was brushed under a rug.

Elizabeth was purposely neglected in order for Tad to save his job.

I am sure if this was any other teacher (I would hope) that they would be escorted off the premises and charges applied.

 

[Ontario Mom]

On page 59 (under Licensed, Employee Information), you'll see that Tad's wife is employed by the Maury County Board of Education:

https://mgtvwkrn.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/thomas-packet-to-media.pdf

After seeing that... I can't even imagine TC willingly coming back and/or turning himself in. I mean, it's awful enough what he's done, but now his entire personal and professional life is in the toilet and out there for the world to see. Just... ugh. :gaah:

 

[txsvicki]

I wondered from the beginning if he took her to Costa Rica. Some people used to go there and live cheaply, but I don't know if any still do. This man doesn't have that much money and will have to go off grid or somewhere cheap, also where they won't be seen out and about.

 

[MsPooh]

After watching the GMA segment with Nancy Grace and the former FBI guy... I have an awful feeling about this one. Hinky meter is pegged out! ET denied the kissing incident and the adults (all of them) took it and ran with it...they all failed her.

 

[MsPooh]

Also IIRC, when I was in school a teacher was never allowed to have a student in their vehicle...granted it has been a loooong time.

 

[ladymoffat]

After watching the GMA segment with Nancy Grace and the former FBI guy... I have an awful feeling about this one. Hinky meter is pegged out! ET denied the kissing incident and the adults (all of them) took it and ran with it...they all failed her.

My hinky meter is also pegged out. I've had a horrible feeling about this from the start, and my heart just breaks over how badly this child was failed. No matter what comes to light, she is only 15 and a victim in so many ways.
:candle:

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[BetteDavisEyes]

Mar 20 2017, 9:14 am ET

Concern Grows for Tennessee Girl, 15, Who Vanished With Teacher, 50

by Tim Stelloh and Daniella Silva

Investigators put out an urgent call Sunday for help finding Tennessee high school freshman Elizabeth Thomas, who disappeared along with an armed former teacher a week ago, according to authorities who said they were deeply concerned "about his intentions for her."

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Tad Cummins, 50, had possibly planned the kidnapping on March 13 of Elizabeth, 15, who attends Culleoka Unit School in Maury County, near the Alabama border.

The TBI has added Cummins, who has been charged with aggravated kidnapping and sexual contact with a minor, to its list of most wanted fugitives. It warned Sunday that he is believed to be armed with two handguns and should be considered dangerous...

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/concern-grows-tennessee-girl-15-who-vanished-teacher-50-n735576

 

[Deleted member 155000]

The reaction amongst the community is that Tad's wife stepped in during the investigation (she is a member of the Board of Education of that town), and everything was brushed under a rug.

Elizabeth was purposely neglected in order for Tad to save his job.

I am sure if this was any other teacher (I would hope) that they would be escorted off the premises and charges applied.

That's not necessarily true. Schools may suspend a teacher while they investigate, but as someone in the field of education, I can tell you that schools often aren't able to discipline or prosecute teachers unless they can offer law enforcement proof of the violation.

Since one student said they saw it but Beth and TC denied it, they asked another teacher who worked nearby (according to the report posted in the article earlier in the thread). That teacher suggested TV should have had better boundaries with the student, but made a point to say they hadn't observed anything inappropriate and also said TC always kept his classroom door open when students were in there.

I do think Tad should have been removed from the classroom more quickly, and I often think many teachers are given more leniency than they should be when allegations are cast. But, there are legal criteria that have to be met to justify interrupting a teacher's career, so this unfortunately is not surprising to me.

In ANY case, they should've been offering counseling to this girl and monitoring him closely.


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[Mountain_Kat]

Still trying to catch up from yesterday but I watched an interview with her dad yesterday and it was said that HE is the legal guardian of the 10 kids. So yeah, there is a heck of a lot more to all this, than meets the eye. A whole lot of dysfunctional family stuff going on, sadly.

Good seeing you here, btw.

Something just isn't adding up for me either, Mom. Obviously, TC has crossed teacher/student boundaries here...even before the kidnapping. But I'm just not entirely sold on the fact that he's a sexual predator. I can't help but wonder what was going on in this young girl's house, and whether we might have a "hero syndrome" going on here.

(Watch me get flamed! LOL!)

 

[bestill]

I can understand that they don't want to deal with the negative publicity involved, but they're going to have to deal with it anyway. They could at least make it look like they're attempting to aid the investigation. Otherwise it kind of looks like they're just trying to hide stuff.

They are handling her disappearance just like they handled the incident, ignore it and don't make a big deal about it and hope it goes away. Her father should sue the crap out of them regardless of the outcome.

 

[bestill]

Another thing that makes me furious is all the school had to do was monitor their IG account and they would see exactly what was going on. Heck it didn't take us but a couple of minutes to understand how troubled she is and how she feels about her "best friend". Seems that would be part of a complete and thorough investigation.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Something just isn't adding up for me either, Mom. Obviously, TC has crossed teacher/student boundaries here...even before the kidnapping. But I'm just not entirely sold on the fact that he's a sexual predator. I can't help but wonder what was going on in this young girl's house, and whether we might have a "hero syndrome" going on here.

(Watch me get flamed! LOL!)

I don't see him as a sexual predator myself, and the whole hero syndrome makes perfect sense to me (based on all I've read about this girl's home life), despite how incredibly stupid, illegal and immoral the actions were. Now we'll both get flamed, I guess.