Former John Edwards Staffer Could End Up In Jail Over Sex Tape

A North Carolina judge said he was considering sending former John Edwards staffer Andrew Young and his wife, Cheri, to jail for not turning over all copies of a sex tape featuring the onetime presidential candidate and his mistress, Rielle Hunter.

Superior Court Judge Abraham Jones said Tuesday that the couple had not been truthful about the number of copies made of the tape and how many people have seen it, the Raleigh News & Observer reported.

The judge gave the couple until Friday to account for discrepancies in their story about the handling of the tape and other items related to a lawsuit by Hunter, according to The Associated Press.

Last month the judge held Andrew and Cheri Young in contempt. Tuesday's was the fourth court hearing on the matter.

"I don't want to lock them up, but the pattern is really painful to me," Jones said.

Andrew Young has turned over the original tape and a VHS copy and has sworn that other copies do not exist. Lawyers for Hunter accused Young of lying and produced an affidavit by a writer named Robert Draper who claimed a digital copy exists on Young's laptop computer.

The couple insisted they never intended to distribute the tape or show it publicly, despite being offered large sums to sell it.

Hunter said the tape and other personal items, including family photographs, should be turned over to her. Her lawyers argued that Young has no right to the tape, which he said he found after it had been thrown away. Young said he has kept it to help prove his account of how he helped Edwards cover up his affair with Hunter, which Young detailed in a book.

Edwards admitted in January that he fathered a child with Hunter, his campaign videographer, during his 2008 presidential run. The former senator had previously denied paternity of Quinn Hunter, now 2 years old.