XPost: misc.immigration.usa, oc.general, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: noreply@mixmin.net   
      
   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 along a Westminster street Dec. 5 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 alleged kidnapping and rape last year, authorities say,   
   Verbena-Martinez fled the country before investigators could take him   
   into custody.   
      
   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 and   
   Guatemalan 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, 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   
   crimes. If convicted as charged, he faces up to life in prison without   
   the possibility of parole.   
      
   https://www.ocregister.com/2026/02/18/fugitive-accused-of-kidnapping-rapi   
   ng-orange-county-teen-captured-in-guatemala/   
      
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