A California couple who ran a surrogacy company stands accused of conspiring to abuse 15 children living in their Arcadia mansion. Prosecutors allege nannies beat some of the children while the couple watched on surveillance cameras.
Guojun Xuan, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, face charges of conspiracy to commit child abuse, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Xuan also faces one child-abuse count, one accessory-after-the-fact count, and five counts of dissuading a witness. Zhang faces one accessory-after-the-fact count and four counts of witness dissuasion.
The criminal complaint alleges that 15 of the 16 children in the home endured repeated physical abuse. Surrogacy arrangements produced the children, and prosecutors say some were only 2 months old.
Authorities removed 15 children from the Arcadia home last year and found six more living elsewhere, prosecutors said. The children ranged in age from 2 months to 13 years, though most were between 1 and 3.
Xuan and Zhang allegedly told at least two women who became surrogates that Zhang was having trouble conceiving. Prosecutors say the couple hired nannies to oversee the children, who spent hours each day in makeshift classrooms inside the home.
More than 30 cameras monitored the children and nannies, according to the complaint. Prosecutors allege some nannies took children into a room without a camera, where their screams could be heard.
Over 11 days in late April and early May 2025, surveillance video allegedly captured nannies spanking, slapping, and hitting children. In one incident, a nanny hit a child with a shoe while Zhang and a nanny, Chunmei Li, laughed as they watched the video, prosecutors said.
On April 30, 2025, Xuan allegedly told a nanny to hit a child harder, then spanked the child himself several times. According to the complaint, he struck the child in the head and lifted the child by one arm while continuing to hit them.
The alleged abuse came to light after authorities received a report that a 2-month-old boy had suffered a head injury. Li is accused of hitting the infant on May 4. Prosecutors say Xuan and Zhang waited two days to seek medical attention and told hospital staff the child had fallen from a bed.
Before police arrived at the mansion on May 7, Xuan and Zhang allegedly told the children to deny that nannies had beaten them. Zhang is also accused of telling a nanny to hide the sticks used to strike the children.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman called the alleged abuse “appalling and revolting,” saying the mansion was not a home where the children were loved and nurtured but one where they were “systematically beaten and punished.”
Xuan and Zhang pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Pasadena and denied the allegations through a Mandarin interpreter. A judge set bail at $20 million each, with home detention and an order barring them from visiting the children.
Prosecutors had recommended $100 million bail for each defendant, citing the alleged crimes and potential flight risk. If convicted as charged, Xuan faces up to 17 years and four months in state prison, while Zhang faces up to 11 years and eight months.
Li was previously charged with felony child abuse, and a $105,000 warrant remains outstanding for her arrest, prosecutors said.
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