HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — In a court hearing Tuesday, lawyers for Rielle Hunter accused Andrew Young of stealing a sex tape featuring former presidential candidate John Edwards, then repeatedly lying about it.
The hearing marked the third time in a month that lawyers for Hunter and Young, a former aide to the former senator, have squared off in court in an attempt to secure all copies of the tape, as well as such items as photos Hunter took of herself while pregnant and of Edwards with their child.
Hunter sued Young and his wife, Cheri, last month over who owns the sensitive material. Young, who previously swore he was the father of Hunter's baby to cover for his former boss, has written a book about the affair and has frequently appeared on national TV to promote his book.
Though she has yet to appear in court, Hunter's legal team released a sworn affidavit from her Tuesday in which she said the tape and photos were not abandoned, as the Youngs have claimed, but were in storage with other property in a Chatham County home leased for her in 2007.
"It is horrifying to me that my privacy has been so invaded, even more so because it was part of an effort by the Youngs to make money," Hunter said, according to the affidavit. "Andrew Young and Cheri Young took my personal property that was extremely important to me, including the video recording marked 'Special' that I intentionally mangled and cut to prevent anyone from viewing it. They repaired that tape, watched that tape, copied that tape, talked about it repeatedly on national television programs and showed it to others for their monetary gain."
The Youngs say they found the tape in a box of trash after they were asked to clean out Hunter's belongings from the home while she was on a cross-country odyssey hiding in luxury hotels and the vacation homes of her lover's wealthy political patrons.
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