PROVIDENCE -- A 21-year-old Woonsocket man was indicted yesterday on charges he kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered an 8-year-old neighbor, Savannah Smith, in May, the attorney general's office announced yesterday.

Joshua A. Davis, 21, of 564 Coe St. #2, was indicted on one count of murder, one count of first-degree child molestation and one count of kidnapping a minor. Davis has been held without bail since May 8, when Woonsocket police arrested him on a murder charge.

The first-degree child molestation charge announced yesterday was the first public acknowledgement by authorities that the 8-year-old girl had been sexually assaulted before she was killed.

Michael J. Healey, spokesman for Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, said the indictment was significant, "but for us, it's really just the beginning of the prosecution."

Savannah lived with her father, David Smith, across Coe Street from Davis, his girlfriend and their infant child. The police and prosecutors say they believe Davis took Savannah from the Globe Park Playground near her home the afternoon of May 7 and drove her to Cranston, where he molested and murdered her. Her body was found in the early hours of May 8 in wooded area off Parkview Boulevard in Cranston. An autopsy by the state medical examiner determined she had been strangled and beaten to death.

The kidnapping occurred on a sunny Sunday afternoon. David Smith had been preparing a family barbecue while Savannah and one of her younger sisters had been helping Davis wash his red convertible. The girls asked if they could go for a ride with Davis to get ice cream.

Because the car was not registered, and because he said he'd seen Davis drinking "a little," David Smith said he said no. The children went to the nearby Globe Street Playground, about 100 yards down Coe Street, instead. Around 3:30 p.m., about a half hour after they'd gone to the park, one of Savannah's sisters and her cousin returned home and said Savannah had left the park with Davis in his car, waving goodbye as they drove off.

David Smith went to a store in the neighborhood searching for his daughter. He said he asked Davis' girlfriend to call Davis on her cell phone. She reached Davis and Smith said he could hear Davis telling his girlfriend that he was in Warwick and hadn't seen Savannah since he "dropped her off at the park." Smith later called the police and reported his daughter missing.

At 8 p.m., around five hours after the girls had asked to go to the playground, Smith said Davis returned home. The police, who had been searching the neighborhood, asked Davis about Savannah and he repeated that he'd left her in the park. As the officers were talking, Smith said, Davis "jumped in his car and tried to get away."

The police stopped Davis' car, handcuffed him and took him away. Savannah Smith's body was found in Cranston about 4 a.m. on May 8 and Davis was arrested on the murder charge after that.

Davis is due back in court on Sept. 13 for arraignment.

Journal staff writers John Hill, Cynthia Needham and projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples contributed to this report.