The story of Edward Bullock, Warren County sheriff accused of sexually abusing kids in county custody

Edward Bullock was Warren County's sheriff from 1982 to 1991, when he abruptly resigned amid an investigation. This photo was taken in April 1992 when he was sentenced for official misconduct. Accusations that he sexually assaulted boys in custody persisted until his death 2015 and lawsuits allege the county knowingly ignored Bullock's actions.

Edward Bullock, then a Lopatcong Township resident, became Warren County's sheriff in 1982 at the age of 51, following the resignation of Kenneth Gaylord. Bullock previously served three years as undersheriff, preceded by 18 years as a constable in the county court, and was appointed by Gov. Tom Kean to finish the term.

Following his appointment to the sheriff post in June 1982, Bullock ran on the Republican ticket and won his first full term that November.

In 1985, the now-55-year-old Edward Bullock ran for a second term as Warren County's sheriff and won.

In 1988, Edward Bullock won his third term as Warren County's sheriff. He called himself a "natural" for the job, according to an Express-Times story before the election, which also says he was a 1946 graduate of Phillipsburg Catholic High School and served in the Army from 1951 to 1953.

Edward Bullock won his fourth term as Warren County's sheriff in November 1991. He abruptly resigned later that month.

"I'm just completely stressed," was Edward Bullock's explanation for his resignation as Warren County's sheriff in November 1991. For months, rumors swirled about the reason until it was announced in March 1992 that he was the subject of a state police sting operation in which he tried to curry sexual favors from a trooper posing as a sexually abused teenaged boy.

Former Warren County Sheriff Edward Bullock pleaded guilty to official misconduct in April 1992. He served nine months in jail.

Former Warren County Sheriff Edward Bullock, then an Ocean County resident, returns to the courthouse in March 2014 after surrendering to authorities on sex abuse charges. In addition to criminal charges, the first of four civil suits alleging abuse was filed in 2013.

Ex-Warren County sheriff Edward Bullock, 86, appears in state Superior Court in Flemington in July 2015 for his trial on charges he sexually assaulted a boy in the 1980s. The jury eventually deadlocked, with one juror saying they believed the accuser's claims but did not see enough physical evidence to convict Bullock.

Edward Bullock leaves court in Flemington in July 2015 after a jury deadlocked in the 86-year-old former Warren County sheriff's trial on child sex assault charges. A February retrial was planned but Bullock died Nov. 16, 2015. Warren County still faces four lawsuits alleging officials knew of Bullock's actions in the 1970s and '80s and did nothing to stop him.