Ex-teacher pleads guilty to fleeing with Tennessee student

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The victim was in court but did not speak afterward. A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Donald Cochran said prosecutors were relieved on her behalf.

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“This decision today to plead guilty pleases us in the fact that at this point the victim will no longer have to face a lengthy trial and can go about her life,” spokesman David Boling said afterward.

A federal prosecutor told the court that Cummins engaged in sexual activity with the girl several times in a classroom closet at school and in a car. They first had intercourse after he took her out of state, according to authorities.

Cummins was married at the time and is a father and grandfather. Since he was jailed, he has called his wife — who filed for divorce after he disappeared — to ask for forgiveness, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Beth Myers told the court.

Cummins disappeared with the girl last March. They were found in April at a remote forest cabin near Cecilville, California, after a tip to police.

Cummins had planned to take the girl to Mexico and took a kayak from San Diego on a test run, the prosecutor said. He switched license plates twice, disabled his vehicle’s GPS system, used aliases, altered his appearance, paid in cash only and used back roads during his nearly six weeks on the run, according to court documents.

Authorities credit the caretaker of the remote northern California property for helping police find the girl and arrest Cummins. The girl was found safe.

Cummins taught at Culleoka Unit School in Culleoka, south of Nashville. He was fired a day after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued an Amber Alert for the teen. The Tennessee Board of Education revoked Cummins’ teaching license in July.

Sheila Burke, The Associated Press