Youngs won't face charges over sex tape

• Tweet

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 7 (UPI) -- A North Carolina prosecutor says a former aide to John Edwards and his wife will not face contempt charges in a civil case brought by Edwards' former mistress.

District Attorney Jim Woodall announced that Andrew and Cheri Young will not be charged with criminal contempt for violating a court order when they released sealed documents to federal agents, the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported.

The documents purportedly included a video tape of Edwards, a former presidential candidate, having sex with his former mistress, Rielle Hunter.

Hunter sued the Youngs in 2010 over ownership of the tape, which they said they found after she moved out of their home.

The judge in the civil case ordered the tape sealed, but federal authorities mulling criminal charges against Edwards subpoenaed the tape from the Youngs.

Woodall said that while there was "evidence sufficient to support a finding of probable cause that criminal contempt of court occurred," the Youngs and their attorneys became caught between the demands of state and federal governments and did not willfully violate the order.

Edwards was later indicted by a federal grand jury on charges he violated campaign funding laws in trying to hide his affair with Hunter. He was acquitted in May.