Cane L. Madden, 29, of Louisville, was charged with first-degree rape, assault and robbery in connection with the alleged attack, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported.
Madden is being held in lieu of a $1 million bond in Louisville Metro Corrections, the newspaper reported.
According to an arrest report, police responded to a call Friday afternoon that an 8-year-old child had been hit in the head with a shovel and had an iPad stolen, WDRB reported.
According to emergency room personnel, the girl suffered a right skull fracture, cuts and bruises to the head, and bruising and "significant bruising and tearing" in an area that was "indicative of a sexual assault," the Courier-Journal reported.
"Well, there's only one kind of prayer you can send. It's, 'Lord have mercy, and Lord send the angels to watch over her,'" Ruth Watkins, a neighbor of the child, told WDRB. "Oh, it was a hurting, paining feeling going through my heart to know that something like that would happen on this street."
According to police, Madden had been seen in the area before and after the time of the alleged assault, the television station reported. Madden later admitted to knowing about the incident, according to WDRB.
Police said Madden confessed "intimate details" of the assault, and police arrested him shortly before 1 a.m., the Courier-Journal reported.
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