2 CHARGED IN SEXUAL ASSAULTS

Two men were indicted yesterday in separate sexual assault cases, one dating to 1983.

Stephen Pratt, a 43-year-old physical education teacher from Maplewood, was named in a 17-count indictment for the alleged sexual assault of a 12-year-old boy.

Essex County Prosecutor Clifford Minor said the incidents began after Pratt transported the boy to Jersey City after receiving permission from the victim's parents to bring the youth to the United States from the Dominican Republic.

Pratt is charged with abusing the boy over a six-year period.

An investigation began when the victim, now 22, and the father, told authorities about the sexual incidents. Pratt has been a physical education teacher at the Friends Seminary, a private school in Manhattan, for 20 years.

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In the other case, Melvin Huggins, 47, of East Orange, is charged with multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault on girls 8 and 12 and making terroristic threats and child pornography.

Minor said the sexual assaults occurred over a 1 1/2-year period.