Tad Cummins' daughter says she's standing by him



The daughter of Tad Cummins is standing by him, despite allegations that he kidnapped a 15-year-old student and spent more than a month on the run while traveling across America.

Cummins' daughter Ashley, 26, is fully supporting her mom, Jill, as well as her dad.

"He was the definition of what a good father should be and he still is," Ashley told Inside Edition. "I believe that. He needs to at least know that everybody's not against him."

Ashley says she will even visit her father in jail, which is a bitter pill for her mother to swallow.

"I have to let them have a relationship with him," Jill Cummins told Inside Edition. "I have to understand that. But they know he did wrong too and they're standing by me 100 percent."

Ashley and her sister, Erica, are also there for their mom, which Jill appreciates.

"They're wonderful, wonderful girls and their daddy would be proud of them for them stepping up and being there when he wasn't," Jill said.

Jill, who married Tad Cummins on her 18th birthday, filed for divorce after he took off with 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas in March.

Now she says she may never speak to him again, but she hasn't stopped loving him.

"You can't not love him, but it's different now," she said. "I don't trust him anymore and we'll never have what we had before."

When asked if she hates him, she said, "No. Just what he did."

She's somehow found a silver lining in the heartbreak.

"A lot of women go through their husbands having affairs and they don't have the support of the nation but I do and that's a blessing in this," she said.

Tad Cummins vanished with Thomas on March 13. After five weeks, they were found at a remote cabin in Cecilville, Calif., after a tipster recognized them and called authorities.

Elizabeth was reunited with her family while Cummins was arrested. He appeared in court in Sacramento on Monday. He faces one federal count of transporting a minor with the intent to engage in sexual activity across state lines.

He has not entered a plea. He's expected to be transported to federal court in Tennessee.

He faces a minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison, if convicted.

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