Sick porn baron escapes jail

A UK cyber porn baron, suspected of netting millions from schoolgirl and farmyard sex Web sites, has escaped jail --because he's sick. Graham Waddon, 28, pocketed over £126,000 from his Web venture, but yesterday had a prison term suspended after complaining of thyroid and leg problems. Judge Christopher Hardy told Southwark Crown Court it was "with hesitation and some regrets" that he had been persuaded to suspend the 18-month sentence for two years. Waddon is believed to have netted millions of pounds from the 12 American-based sites -- with names like Farmsex, Europerv and Schoolgirls'R'Us -- he oversaw from his terraced Surrey home. For a £20 monthly subscription, punters could access the array of cyber vice. One site alone made £19,000 in one day. Detectives have so far been unable to trace the bulk of the profits, which are believed to be nestling in offshore accounts. The court heard that Waddon squandered his share of over £126,000 on pizzas and Chinese take-aways as well as a legitimate Web design business. His partner in crime, former fireman Raymond McArthur-Jones, is currently in custody in the US serving a 23-month sentence after pleading guilty to child pornography. Waddon hit the headlines in July when his case showed that sites on servers outside the UK could still fall under British jurisdiction. ®