Transcript for Teen taken by high school teacher on how their relationship began: Part 1
Most people know every se there.if there a six degrees of paration ie world, there’sration her Reporter: In this farming community of about00, you’ll find at office, S station, and not much else. It’ery small. Ryre. ING around in. Reportentil, of crs does. It’s been a year and a half now since 50-yeahil teacr S ran off with 15-year-olstudent. Today, some squarela the guy’s a pervert. Should be drug out in the streets beat.orter: Others reno sure. I think they took advantage of each R in a waya way. Reporter: We’ S probably did. E got pulled in jus well as she got pulled in. Orter: Many up their minds, both in this small town and across the try. And it’s them that Elizabeth Thomas, now 17, wantak to direcy tonight. Y talk now a what happened?’s a year ter. Reporte pthe story play out. They think they know what happened and ti’m a whore.they thinkhat I like old, and that not the ce. Repr: Before te brought Elizabeth into tad cns’ N homeschooled whole life She was somewhat of a tomboy. Played really rough. E could such to really nice and sweet. Ter: Paigeriffith told ust the time of Elizabeth’s disappearance that she had been kind of a rr and her daughter Erin house and we WOU talk and watch and eat junk F and we Ju hung Reporter: That’s Elizabet the left, play fig with in in the ck of a ca no, I wasn’t! Yeah, you Weporter: H sister sah gave me a tour of Elizabeth’s bedroom during the days she went miin it told its own story of an adolescentght betweetw that’s her X the one HD, the teen who self an Xbox with games. Orter: On thher, a child. She made this. Rorter: Sti ented by mask what elibe a dark realit We had a lot of stuff going behind closed doorat shouldn’t have. R: Abusive? Very. Rorter: Viont? Very. Violent? And no escape, because you were homeschooled. Uh-hu Ror the abuse so severe, she says, the finally report then mother to child protective services. Mple UND D negl she deni the charges, telling a local TV station — I’m not guilty of this. Reporter:ow you find out what was going on at home? T’s two Sheff’s deputies I yard. Reporter: Their father nd the Clos exterminator to support his five chdrinsisting spe last yeart he ‘T know hod ad gotten at .D for you talk Abou ? Yeah. Rorter: You don’tto think about what was hng. I G to take a bre Reporter: Theirher’s rel is a welme relie but soon, elizh is push inhe teenagehark tank as high school. First thiy did was call me ugly once I came to school and, I mean, it’s boys being stupid.eporter: Wing iends? I mn,had their little ces. You cat isrupt that. Reportelizabeth eventually finds one person she thinks San trust. Pular and iendly hlth teacher, tad cum. And that is how hot dogs are made. She was in health. And he began to help her make this transition fromeschool ar-old tad Cummins is quite the ury county district attorney school with H Kind of funny, kind of a cuturetty outgng guy. Reporter: So you knew him. You sahim around. He and Jill, his wife, they were high school sweethearts and rried the ar they gruated high school. Reporter: And tve been when this first happened. God is the centf our marria and ourife, and O is the mosportant ING to UND think it him, too,nd it still is. Reporter: Cummins had even sion work in the rainforests of Panama. He teaches sunschool and sings in was it LI growing with him? We were going through, hs U uld call ae would fix it. Reporter: Tad Cummins flshes in thclassroo watch thou O ow to perfm the difference,tually makmyofit. He was the cool teach likeybody loved him. He was eone’s friend, ertor, help ny people through so many things. Reporter: And for Elizabeth, N encouraginult role model, showering her with atten, even gis. He gae a bible. Anit was just something from him.eporter: Tt kindnessve extendg outsidthe classroo king elizabethchurch on Sundays with his wife. Why did decide to te her to church? To be tag about Abe and how to get past it, get over it. We Dec T Beth. We we R, I though. Reporter think anything of R interacts together? Iwalike a father/daughter relationship. It. In fact, I called her our third daughter some. Repte it all ses benign, until that one day in the school cafeteria. Few friend and then ey “Are you hungry?” And nt, “I don H soul, or if I did, like, I’d be hungry,” or something like that. And then ca a point me and id, “My soul sees your soul.” Reporter: Was he trying to scare her, or seduce her? Up, a health teac grming a young S at would bhinext move? Did you tell somebody? No.r: Why? I don’t want to tell my parent thaown man kissed me and I don’t want to T friends a grown M K me.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
