CA Man Traveled To VA To Have Sex With 15-Year-Old Girl: FBI

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — A California man was arrested Sunday afternoon at Dulles Town Center mall, where authorities said he expected to meet a 15-year-old girl, who he planned to have sex with at a nearby hotel, according to the FBI.

The meet-up had been arranged by FBI agents, who took the suspect, identified as Tyler Valenzia, into custody and charged him with sexual abuse/attempted sexual abuse of a minor.

The FBI began investigating Valenzia after the victim's father notified the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office on Nov. 19, 2025 that he found alarming messages, including nude images, on his 15-year-old daughter's phone, according to an affidavit filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The girl told investigators in December that Valenzia first contacted her via the TikTok app around March 13, 2025, according to the affidavit. The next day they moved their conversation to Snapchat.

The victim told Valenzia that she was a 14-year-old freshman in high school who lived in Virginia. Valenzia told her he was 27 and a resident of San Diego, California, according to the affidavit.

Throughout their conversations, the victim indicated she was a virgin and that Valenzia became obsessed with taking her virginity and meeting in person, the victim told investigators.

The following April, Valenzia flew from San Diego to Virginia to meet the girl, according to the affidavit. After picking her up at Dulles Town Center mall in Sterling, they drove to a nearby hotel where they engaged in sexual intercourse.

In July, Valenzia flew from San Diego to Illinois, where the teen was visiting family. The girl snuck out of the house and met Valenzia, who drove her to a nearby Airbnb, where they had sex.

After their second meet-up, the two continued to message each other, with Valenzia repeatedly requesting nude photos from the girl, according to the report. She sent images of her bare chest and exposed vagina, and appeared naked during a Facetime call.

On Dec. 12, the victim's father gave consent for the FBI to review his daughter's phone, where investigators recovered numerous text conversations between the girl and Valenzia, according to the affidavit.

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Throughout their conversations, the victim repeatedly told Valenzia that she was 14, according to the affidavit. He even sent her multiple selfies, which the FBI was able to match with the photo on his driver's license.

On Dec. 23, the FBI initiated a legal process to obtain from Citibank any records related to Valenzia between March and December, according to investigators.

A record of the suspect's one credit card contained several transactions involving the purchase of airline tickets, hotel bookings and other expenses related to his two visits to Virginia and Illinois, according to the affidavit. The FBI also obtained records from the Best Western Dulles Airport and Hertz Rent-A-Car that included charges related to Valenzia's two trips.

Examining Valenzia's personal website, investigators determined that he had enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2018 and had been stationed in San Diego.

Navy Criminal Investigations within the Department of Defense-Navy, provided the FBI with two separate incident reports, involving Valenzia sending sexually inappropriate messages via Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram to underage girls.

By the time one of the victims began communicating with Valenzia on May 29, 2023, he had been released from service and no longer subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to the affidavit. The case was handed over to the Culver City Police Department.

An FBI special agent posing as the victim from Virginia, who was now 15, began communicating with Valenzia on Dec. 22, according to the affidavit.

During a Jan. 17, 2026 conversation, Valenzia indicated that he was visiting family in Glen Burnie, Maryland, according to the FBI. He and the undercover agent agreed to meet at Dulles Town Center just as they had the previous April.

Three days later, Valenzia drove a rental car from Maryland to the mall in Virginia, where he was arrested as he entered Macy's just before 4 p.m., according to investigators.

Magistrate Judge Lindsey R. Vaala issued a detention order on Jan. 20 and Valenzia was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal's Service, court records say.