BRENTWOOD — An Exeter man accused of having more than 247,000 images of child pornography is being evaluated by mental health experts to determine if he is competent to stand trial.

A judge put off the Oct. 1 trial for Thomas Rogers, 45, of Exeter and ordered that a competency hearing be held Dec. 7 to decide if he is mentally fit to assist in his defense.

Rogers, who was being held at the Rockingham County jail, was hospitalized about three weeks ago after corrections officers found him with a stab wound in the head from a pencil.

Investigators say the injury was initially reported as a suicide attempt.

Defense lawyers submitted their request for an evaluation under seal, so it's unknown whether the reported injury prompted the request.

Rogers was indicted by a grand jury in March on 27 felonies related to possession of child pornography.

Judge Marguerite Wageling approved the request for the examination on Sept. 7. The exam is scheduled for Oct. 16.

Property managers found child pornography inside Rogers' apartment at 4 Meeting Place Drive in Exeter on Dec. 22 while doing a routine inspection, according to a police affidavit.

Rogers was not home at the time. He allegedly left the pornography in plain view on his desk, police said.

Rogers allegedly kept the images in a variety of places around his apartment — on his computer, in a stack of photographs on his desk and in a printed photo album that was at least 21 pages long, according to prosecutors.

Exeter police also found about 1,400 videos on Rogers' computer after obtaining a search warrant.

Exeter police Sgt. Michael Munck said in a sworn affidavit that Rogers agreed to be interviewed after being read his Miranda rights, which he waived in writing.

“During the course of this interview, Rogers confessed to printing out the picture we had located from the Internet using his computer and his printer,” Munck wrote.

Each of the charges carries a potential 7 ½-to-15-year prison term. Prosecutors have the option under state law to seek a 20-year sentence.

Rogers is facing 22 counts of possession of child sexual abuse images and five counts of attempted possession of child sexual abuse images.

jkimble@newstote.com