An Anaheim man has been returned to Orange County to face child crime charges after he was on the run to avoid an arrest for several weeks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Brian Estuardo Verbena-Martinez, 34, is accused of kidnapping a 13-year-old girl off a street of Westminster and repeatedly raping her on Dec. 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,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement. “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.”

After Westminster police identified Verbena-Martinez as the suspect in the alleged kidnapping and rape, the suspect left Orange County and became a fugitive. Last week, a “multi-jurisdictional effort” by the FBI and Orange County agencies led to his capture in Guatemala, the district attorney’s office said.

A registered sex offender charged with kidnapping a 13-year-old girl and repeatedly raping her has been captured in Guatemala after fleeing there to evade capture. Wanted fugitive, Brian Estuardo Verbena-Martinez, 34, of Anaheim, is in custody as part of a multi-jurisdictional… pic.twitter.com/9CAqYFw44T

— FBI Los Angeles (@FBILosAngeles) February 18, 2026

Verbena-Martinez was already a registered sex offender when he committed the alleged 2025 crime 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. 

Verbena-Martinez was charged with multiple counts of felony crime, including kidnapping to commit a sex offense and forcible rape. If convicted on all charges, he could a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, the district attorney’s office said.