NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Former Maury County teacher Tad Cummins, who entered a guilty plea on two counts of transporting a minor for sex and destroying evidence, has filed a notice of appeal of his case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Cummins was sentenced in federal court on Jan. 16 to serve 20 years in prison in connection with the cross-country trip he took with a then-15-year-old Maury County high school student.
Cummins’ attorney filed the notice of appeal on Wednesday in the Sixth Circuit court in Cincinnati. Only a notice that the case has been docketed and assigned to a manager has been posted.
Cummins admitted he took the student on a trip in March 2017, spending 39 days on the run. Along the way they stole license plates in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Utah, Nevada and Oklahoma to avoid being caught.
They also bought a kayak and attempted to paddle from California to Mexico, but the water was too rough. Cummins and the victim went from hotel to hotel while on the trip. Prosecutors said she was sexually-abused over-and-over.
Cummins and the teen were eventually found living in a cabin at a commune in a remote area of northern California. After his arrest, Cummins admitted to having sex with the teen several times.
Cummins will have to serve the full 20 years of his sentence with no possibility of parole.
The victim’s family has also filed a civil lawsuit in federal court against Cummins and the Maury County School District.