USA: A couple in California who were running a surrogacy business have been accused of physically harming children in their Arcadia home. The prosecutors alleged that kids as small as 2 months old were being physically abused by the nanny.
According to the reports, authorities identified 21 children at the couple’s Arcadia house after a baby’s head injury prompted an investigation in 2025.
On October 6, Guojun Xuan, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, were arrested at their Arcadia residence. The Chinese couple was arrested after a search warrant was served by the investigators at their property in Arcadia, which is located in the northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, the couple was charged with conspiracy to commit abuse.
According to prosecutors, Xuan is charged with one count each of child abuse and accessory after the fact, along with five counts of witness dissuasion.
Zhang is charged with four counts of witness dissuasion and one count of accessory after the fact.
According to the reports, the couple was accused of operating a surrogacy company and abusing at least 21 children who lived at their property in Arcadia.
The prosecutors stated that the children inside the house were constantly abused by the staff, including a 2-month-old who was physically harmed by a nanny under the supervision of the Chinese couple.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Ross Luna told USA Today that, during the initial investigation, it was found that 16 children were living in the residence; however, eventually the investigators found out that around 21 children were living in the house.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement that, “The number of children who were subjected to this alleged horrific abuse is unprecedented.”
He added, "This was not a home where these children were loved and nurtured. This was a home where these young children were systematically beaten and punished if they did not do what they were told."
According to a news conference, Hochman said that the case originated in 2021, when Xuan and Zhang moved into a house in Arcadia and started a surrogacy company named Mark Surrogacy Investment LLC, which was operated from their own residence.
As the years passed, they started to grow their family through surrogate pregnancies.
According to Hochman, in 2022, the couple started to recruit surrogate mothers across the United States and made false statements to different surrogates so as to keep their business afloat.
Prosecutors alleged that Zhang told a surrogate woman that she was a single mother who was unable to conceive, and another woman was told that the Chinese couple only had one child and they were hoping to get another one through surrogacy. None of the surrogates who went through the process were told the truth about the Chinese couple’s 21 children.
A complaint against the couple alleged that a woman who was seven months pregnant was never told that the couple already had 16 children.
Hochman said that women were paid heavily to carry the babies. According to the reports, most of the women were paid tens of thousands of dollars, and some, in particular, were paid up to $75,000 for two pregnancies each, and other surrogates were allegedly paid somewhere between $65,000 and $135,000.
Authorities said that by 2025, 16 children were living inside the Arcadia residence, out of which 14 children were born through surrogacy and ranged from 2 months old to about 5 years old.
According to the complaint, there were makeshift classrooms made inside the house, where the children spent most of their time. The couple hired a couple of nannies to supervise and discipline the children. Prosecutors said that the house was under complete supervision through CCTV cameras, so that the couple could monitor the children and the nannies.
According to the reports, Hochman said that the kids spent a couple of hours inside the “learning centers” under the supervision of the nannies.
It was also reported that the house had one room without any camera, and the nannies were alleged to have taken the children inside the specific room to abuse them physically. The attorney alleged that children were heard crying and screaming from inside the room.
Over the period of time between April 27 and May 27, 2025, the prosecutor said that the nannies who worked in the house were allegedly recorded while they were spanking, slapping and beating the children.
In a reported instance, a nanny had hit a child with a shoe while Zhang and another nanny who worked in the same house laughed while they watched the footage of the incident.
Prosecutors also alleged that Zhang had himself hit the kids. According to the complaint, Zhang once entered a “classroom” and instructed the nanny to hit a child harder, and later he hit the same child himself.
The case dates back to 2025, when a 2-month-old boy was taken to a Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. The child had suffered a head injury. The hospital staff decided to call the police after they became curious about his injury, and once the police were informed, the investigation began, and the alleged abuse was discovered.
According to the prosecutors, Li, who was 58 at the time, was accused of striking the infant on the head on May 4, 2025. It was also alleged that the child was not taken to the hospital until 2 days after the incident.
Prosecutors previously charged Li with felony child abuse likely to cause severe injury or death. Authorities stated that she remains at large under an outstanding $105,000 warrant.
Xuan and Zhang were both presented before the court after they were arrested on Tuesday.
According to NBC News, they both denied all the allegations against them and pleaded not guilty. Their attorney Mitchell Krems said that Xuan did not commit physical abuse and that the couple did not need surrogacy for money.
He also argued that the couple was being unfairly scrutinized for their Chinese background and for having a large family.
Krems said in an interview with NBC News, “He’s exercising his civil liberties to be able to have as many children as he wants.”
Xuan wanted a big family because of his past in China. Krems explained that Xuan moved away from China's old one-child rule. He said that Xuan moved to the United States so that they could have as many children as they wanted.
Hochman described the Arcadia house as the house of horrors.
Krems said that only the nanny was to be blamed for the incident that happened with the 2-month-old child. He also added that the Chinese couple fired the nanny after they found out that she was abusing the kids.
The couple is also alleged to have asked the children to lie to Hochman when asked about the abuse. Prosecutors allege that on May 7, 2025, the couple instructed some children to deny that the nannies had beaten them. Zhang is also accused of telling a nanny to hide sticks allegedly used to strike the children.
In May 2025, Chunmei Li, the 58-year-old nanny who was seen in the recording beating a child, was charged with felony child abuse according to the court’s record.
Both Xuan and Zhang pleaded not guilty during their October 6, 2026, arraignment in Pasadena, California. Prosecutors sought bail of $100 million each, but the judge set bail at $20 million each. 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. These are potential maximum sentences, not sentences imposed.
According to the reports, the 21 children are in the state’s custody now, and ABC7 Los Angeles reported that they were placed in the custody of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services in 2025. The prosecutors have set a bail amount of $100 million per person because of the seriousness of the crime.
The judge has set the final bail amount at $20 million each, and if the couple is released, they must be detained at home and will not be allowed to meet their kids.
The court will review their bail next Monday.
