A teenage girl and her father have filed a suit against the Maury County Board of Education and Tad Cummins, a former teacher facing kidnapping charges after he fled the state last year with the 15-year old student, sparking a 39-day nationwide manhunt.
Cummins, 51, has been charged with transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of engaging in criminal sexual conduct and obstruction of justice. He pleaded not guilty. He is due back in court Tuesday, when his attorney Brent Horst will ask to drop out of the case.
"This case is about how a public school failed its obligation to protect students from a predator."
The federal lawsuit, filed Friday, seeks damages from both Cummins and the school district.
The civil suit claims school officials, including teachers and the principal of Culleoka Unit School in Columbia, ignored clear red flags about Cummins' behavior toward the girl.
"The growing relationship between Cummins and (the girl) was apparent to Culleoka Unit School student and teachers," the lawsuit said.
"This case is about how a public school failed its obligation to protect students from a predator."
The suit accuses the school of failing to follow Title IX, a federal mandate requiring K-12 public schools to protect students from sexual harassment and promptly respond when allegations emerge.
The suit is one of a half-dozen filed in recent months against public schools in Davidson, Wilson, Stewart and now Maury county alleging officials are repeatedly failing to protect students from sexual abuse under Title IX guidelines.
An attorney for the girl and her father declined to comment. The Maury County Board of Education did not immediately respond to a voicemail seeking comment.
The warning signs
Administrators were put on notice there were problems with Cummins' behavior, according to the suit.
The girl, identified only as "Jane Doe" in the lawsuit, regularly visited Cummins' classroom during an off-class period when his room was empty. She took naps on a bed in the room. Other teachers in adjacent classrooms were aware the girl spent a lot of time in his classroom but did not intervene, the lawsuit said.
It was in a closet in Cummins' classroom that Cummins first began sexually abusing the girl, the lawsuit said.
One student complained to school administrators and asked to be removed from Cummin's class "due to her feeling uncomfortable with the relationship" with the girl, the lawsuit said.
"Principal (Penny Love) and the Culleoka Unit School administration ignored these warnings," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit alleged his behavior veered into inappropriate
In January, 2017 a seventh grade student witnessed Cummins kissing the girl in his classroom. A day later, that student and two others confronted Cummins, the lawsuit said.
The witness then reported the kissing incident to school administrators. Two administrators began an investigation.
No one from the school contacted the girl's parents, law enforcement or the Department of Children's Services during their internal investigation, and there was no effort to remove the girl from Cummins' class, the lawsuit said.
In the days after administrators got the report, Cummins chaperoned a field trip, the lawsuit said. It was on the field trip that Cummins propositioned the girl for sex, but she refused, the lawsuit said.
After the field trip, the principal issued a directive to both the girl and Cummins to have no further contact.
But by then, word of the kissing incident had spread to students and teachers. The girl was called a "whore" by classmates, according to the suit. The lawsuit alleges the girl heard teachers use similar language about her.
Cummins was popular among students for his laid-back persona. The lawsuit alleged his behavior veered into inappropriate and was well-known to school administration, who did nothing to stop it. The behavior included allowing students to call him by his first name, meeting with students before and after class for no academic purpose, inviting kids to eat lunch in his classroom. He also had a bed in his classroom he allowed kids to nap on.
According to the criminal complaint filed in federal court, the kissing incident described in the lawsuit took place on Jan. 23, 2017. A school resource officer assigned to Culleoka Unit School reported the incident to the Maury County Sheriff's Office on Jan. 30, beginning the criminal investigation, the criminal complaint said.
The girl's father first learned of the incident when he got a call from the sheriff's office on Jan. 31.
The father retained a lawyer days later after attempts to get the school to remove Cummins failed, the lawsuit said. On Feb. 6, the same day the attorney sent a letter to the School Board demanding protective action be taken for the girl, the school board suspended Cummins.
More: Hearing reveals details of Cummins' cross-country flight with student
Cummins disappeared on March 13 with the girl. After more than five weeks on the lam, he and the girl were found April 20 in a remote forest cabin near Cecilville, Calif.
He later told investigators he had a sexual relationship with the girl, although he has argued to suppress those statements in court.
Cummins' trial has been delayed multiple times and is currently set to begin in April, although a change in counsel could push it back further.
Reach Anita Wadhwani at awadhwani@tennessean.com, 615-259-8092 or on Twitter @AnitaWadhwani.