SANTA ANA, Calif. – A registered sex offender charged with kidnapping a 13-year-old Orange County girl and repeatedly raping her over several hours has been captured in Guatemala as part of a multi-jurisdictional effort to bring the wanted fugitive to justice.
Since December 2025, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Department of Justice Office of International Affairs, the FBI’s Orange County Resident Agency, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, and the Westminster Police Department, with the assistance of the Anaheim Police Department, and Guatemala’s Policia Nacional Civil / Transnational Anti-Gang Task Force (TAG) have been working to track down Brian Estuardo Verbena-Martinez, 34, of Anaheim.
On December 5, 2025, Verbena-Martinez is accused of driving next to a 13-year-old girl who was walking on a street in the City of Westminster and asking her if she needed a ride. Verbena-Martinez is accused of becoming more and more aggressive until the girl got into his car.
Over the next several hours, Verbena-Martinez is accused of sexually assaulting her in multiple locations, including in several parking lots and his apartment while other children were home, before finally dropping the girl off at her friend’s home in Garden Grove.
Westminster police identified Verbena-Martinez as the suspect in the 13-year-old’s kidnapping and rape and with the help of the FBI, Verbena-Martinez was located in Guatemala and arrested last week.
Verbena-Martinez has been charged with one felony count of kidnapping to commit a sex offense, one felony count of forcible rape, one felony count of sexual penetration of child under 14 years of age by force, one felony count of forcible oral copulation with a minor under the age of 14 years old, and three felony counts of lewd act upon a child under 14. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted on all charges.
Verbena-Martinez is a registered sex offender after being convicted in 2019 in Los Angeles County of arranging to meet a minor with the intent to engage in sexual conduct.
“The crimes alleged against Verbena-Martinez are beyond horrific and something the young victim in this case must tragically endure,” said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “This is the third announcement of a fugitive returned to Orange County this year from countries including Mexico, Vietnam and Guatemala, based on the successful relationship with the FBI, our law enforcement partners in Orange County, our foreign counterparts and the U.S. Department of Justice. The FBI will continue to assist local police when fugitives flee the state of California to evade capture.”
“Our message is clear: If you commit a serious crime in our city, you will be pursued and held accountable. We will work hand in hand with our law enforcement partners to find you, no matter where you go, and bring you to justice,” said Westminster Police Chief Darin Lenyi. “We thank all agencies involved for their dedicated and coordinated efforts in this case.”
“The pursuit of justice knows no borders, and we will continue to go to the very ends of the earth to carry out our mission to secure accountability and safeguard public safety,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “The men and women of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, along with our dedicated local and federal partners, work day in and day out to ensure that individuals who commit crimes in Orange County, like this child predator, know that it is a matter of when and not if that they will be captured and brought to justice.”
Deputy District Attorney Tom Farnell of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.