BBC News Online: UK

Net pornographer escapes jail

The case was heralded as a major legal landmark in the fight against Internet porn because it showed the content of US-based sites could come under British jurisdiction.

Graham Waddon, 28, played a key role overseeing a string of "cyber sin" sites from his terraced house in Surrey.

But his sites, with names such as Farmsex, Europerv and Schoolgirls-R'us, were all based in the US.

Southwark crown court heard that just one of the sites could earn him £4,500 per day.

Judge Christopher Hardy sentenced Waddon to 18 months imprisonment, suspended for two years. He said he accepted Waddon suffered from considerable health difficulties.

The judge also expressed concern that Waddon's American alleged partner-in-crime, former fireman Raymond McArthur-Jones, escaped prosecution in the UK after striking a deal with US authorities.

The judge said: "I'm told that he is currently in custody serving a sentence of 23 months in the US, having pleaded guilty to being involved in child pornography.

"You therefore Waddon alone remain to carry the burden of the sentence for these offences."

The court heard that for a monthly subscription of £20, customers were able to key in to a "revolting" variety of American-based Internet porn sites.

One such site made £19,000 in a single day.

New owner for operation

Despite the ground-breaking court case two of the sites continue to operate, their foreign base putting them beyond the reach of the UK police.

Duncan Atkinson, prosecuting, said that as far as the Crown could gauge, the operation now had a new owner, was being run from Costa Rica and no longer had anything to do with Waddon.

The operation had generated £607,000 profit for Mr McArthur-Jones, while Waddon earned more than £126,000, which he spent on a legitimate but ailing Website design company.

Teenage access 'unlikely'

Police confiscated £600-worth of computer equipment when they raided his home.

The judge said that because subscribers needed a credit card to access the porn sites, "it was unlikely lonely teenagers surfing the Internet in the small hours would have access to this material".

Waddon had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to 11 sample counts of publishing obscene articles on the Internet on or before June 1997.

He also pleaded guilty to one charge of having an obscene video for publication for gain.

Relevant Stories

Netting the pornographers (06 Sep 99 | UK)
Police hail Net porn ruling (30 Jun 99 | Sci/Tech)
Cyber criminals feel the heat (22 Jun 99 | Sci/Tech)
Unesco steps up fight against Internet paedophiles (16 Jun 99 | Sci/Tech)
Net legal precedent set (26 Mar 99 | Sci/Tech)

In this section

Next steps for peace
Blairs' surprise over baby
Bowled over by Lord's
Beef row 'compromise' under fire
Hamilton 'would sell mother'
Industry misses new trains target
Quins fightback shocks Cardiff (From Sport)
Vodafone takeover battle heats up (From Business)
IRA ceasefire challenge rejected
Thousands celebrate Asian culture
Christie could get two-year ban (From Sport)
Colleagues remember Compo (From Entertainment)
Mother pleads for baby's return
Toys withdrawn in E.coli health scare
Nurses role set to expand (From Health)
Israeli PM's plane in accident
More lottery cash for grassroots
Pro-lifers plan shock launch
Double killer gets life
Cold 'cure' comes one step closer (From Health)
Straw on trial over jury reform (From UK Politics)
Tatchell calls for rights probe into Mugabe
Ex-spy stays out in the cold
Blair warns Livingstone (From UK Politics)
Smear equipment `misses cancers' (From Health)
Boyzone star gets in Christmas spirit (From Entertainment)
Fake bubbly warning
Murder jury hears dead girl's diary
Germ warfare fiasco revealed (From UK Politics)
Blair babe triggers tabloid frenzy
Tourists shot by mistake
A new look for News Online