Teacher denied bail in kidnapping case

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge on Friday ordered a Tennessee schoolteacher accused of kidnapping a 15-yearold student held until trial, saying he is a flight risk and a danger to the community.

That decision came after an FBI agent testified that the teacher, Tad Cummins, told authorities he had sex with the girl most nights during the 38 days he was on the run with her.

The 50-year-old married teacher, who is a father and grandfather, said the sexual relationship with the girl began the first night after they disappeared March 13, FBI Agent Utley Noble said during testimony at a detention hearing in a federal court in Nashville.

Federal prosecutors had argued that Cummins was a flight risk and a danger because he took advantage of a vulnerable girl and traveled with her across the country to have sex.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes agreed.

“Here the evidence of danger is substantial,” Holmes said. She said Cummins had abused his position of authority as a teacher and noted all the ways he tried to evade police.

Testimony at the detention and preliminary hearing showed that Cummins spent $1,500 on a two-seat kayak, and he and the student used it to try to get to Mexico. They tried to kayak from San Diego to Mexico, but the waters were too treacherous, Noble said. The pair, he said, decided against going into Mexico on foot.

A lawyer for Cummins repeatedly asked the FBI agent if there was any evidence that the girl was held against her will at any time on the trip from Columbia, Tenn., to California. The agent said there was no evidence.