Anaheim sex offender accused of kidnapping, raping 13-year-old OC girl caught in Guatemala

A 34-year-old Anaheim man who is a registered sex offender was arrested in Guatemala after being charged with kidnapping and repeatedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old Orange County girl, the Orange County District Attorney's Office announced on Feb. 18, 2026.

The DA's office identified him as Brian Estuardo Verbena-Martinez. He has not been convicted, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

What prosecutors allege

According to the DA's office, on Dec. 5, 2025, Verbena-Martinez offered a ride to a 13-year-old girl who was walking in Westminster. Prosecutors say he grew more aggressive until she got into his car.

Over several hours, he allegedly took her to multiple locations, including parking lots and his apartment, and sexually assaulted her. Prosecutors say other children were at the apartment at the time. He then allegedly dropped her off at a friend's home in Garden Grove.

The charges

Verbena-Martinez is charged with seven felonies: kidnapping to commit a sex offense, forcible rape, sexual penetration of a child under 14 by force, forcible oral copulation of a minor under 14 and three counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14, according to the DA's office.

If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, prosecutors say.

The DA's office says he was convicted in Los Angeles County in 2019 of arranging to meet a minor with intent to engage in sexual conduct, and that he is a registered sex offender.

How he was found

Westminster police identified Verbena-Martinez as the suspect, according to the DA's office, and agencies had been working to track him down since December 2025. With help from the FBI, he was located in Guatemala and arrested the week before the Feb. 18 announcement.

The DA's office called it a multi-jurisdictional effort involving the FBI, including its legal attache office in Guatemala and its Orange County Resident Agency; the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs; Guatemala's National Civil Police and its Transnational Anti-Gang Task Force; and the Anaheim and Westminster police departments. A photo shared in Juice Unlocked's post shows a man, his face blurred, in handcuffs between two masked officers.

"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 in the release. District Attorney Todd Spitzer said, "The pursuit of justice knows no borders."

Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, said it was the third announcement that year of a fugitive returned to Orange County from countries including Mexico, Vietnam and Guatemala. Juice Unlocked's original post said authorities reported he fled the country after the incident and that extradition proceedings were underway; the DA's release did not give an extradition timeline or a court date. Deputy District Attorney Tom Farnell of the DA's Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting the case.

Get help

If you or a child you know has been sexually abused, the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24/7 at 800-656-4673. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.