A registered sex offender accused of kidnapping a 13-year-old Orange County girl in 2025 and repeatedly raping her over several hours has been captured in Guatemala after an international effort to track down the fugitive.

Westminster investigators previously identified Brian Estuardo Verbena-Martinez, 34, of Anaheim as the suspected kidnapper and rapist. With the help of the FBI, Verbena-Martinez was tracked to Guatemala and taken into custody last week, according to an Orange County District Attorney’s Office statement.

“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,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the statement.

The 13-year-old was walking on a Westminster street on Dec. 5, 2025, when, authorities said, Verbena-Martinez drove up next to her and asked if she needed a ride. Prosecutors say Verbena-Martinez got “more and more aggressive” until persuading the girl to get in his car.

Over several hours, prosecutors allege, Verbena-Martinez sexually assaulted the girl in several parking lots and his apartment while other children were in that residence. He eventually dropped the girl off at her friend’s home in Garden Grove, prosecutors say.

Verbena-Martinez was convicted in 2019 of meeting with a minor with the intent to engage in sexual conduct. As a result of that Los Angeles County conviction, Verbena-Martinez was ordered to register as a sex offender.

After the kidnapping and rape last year, authorities say, Verbena-Martinez fled the country before investigators could take him into custody.

“Our message is clear: If you commit a serious crime in our city, you will be pursued and held accountable,” Westminster Police Chief Darin Lenyi said. “We will work hand in hand with our law enforcement partners to find you, no matter where you go, and bring you to justice.”

Along with Westminster police and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Justice, Anaheim police Guatemala’s officials assisted in the investigation and search for Verbena-Martinez.

“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, said in a statement.

Verbena-Martinez has been charged with felony counts of kidnapping to commit a sexual offense, forcible rape and other sexual assault-related felonies. If convicted as charged, he faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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