© AFP/Pierre Guillaud
David Hamilton
French investigators probing the death of controversial British photographer David Hamilton believe he committed suicide,
just weeks after he was accused of rape, sources close to the inquiry said Saturday.
The 83-year-old, known for his widely published nude images of underage girls, was found dead in his Paris home on Friday with a plastic bag over his head, one source told AFP, adding: "There is nothing at this stage to suggest anything other than suicide."
Hamilton, who rose to fame in the 1970s and whose photography books sold millions of copies, had been
drinking alcohol and another source said drug tests would be performed on the body as medication was found in the photographer's bathroom.
A neighbour raised the alarm after noticing that the door of Hamilton's apartment was half-open, and emergency services found him in cardiac arrest.
Hamilton had this week threatened to sue several former child models who had accused him of rape, saying he had previously been cleared of abuse.
The artist, whose work has long raised questions about where art ends and pornography begins, was at the centre of a torrent of allegations after a French radio presenter accused him of raping her when she was 13.
Flavie Flament, who modelled for Hamilton almost 30 years ago, published an autobiographical novel last month in which she described being raped by a famous photographer during a shoot.
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