ARCADIA, Calif. (TCN) — A 66-year-old man and his 39-year-old wife have been arrested following a 17-month investigation into the alleged abuse of their children, 14 of whom were born via surrogacy.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced charges against Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang in an alleged “unprecedented case of child abuse” on Oct. 6.
The investigation into Xuan and Zhang began in May 2025, after Zhang brought Walter, a 2-month-old boy, to the hospital and claimed he had fallen off a bed and hit his head, ABC News reports. Investigators learned that a nanny who worked for the family, Chunmei Li, had allegedly struck him in the head.
Police arrived at the family’s home on May 7, 2025, Before they got there, Xuan and Zhang allegedly told their children to deny they had been beaten. In addition, they allegedly had nannies hide sticks used to beat the children, according to ABC News.
Inside the home, police found 14 children between the ages of 2 months and approximately 4 or 5 years old, as well as two other children. The couple allegedly has five additional children, but ABC News reports prosecutors did not say where those children were when police first arrived at the family’s home.
Investigators learned Xuan and Zhang kept track of the 21 children using spreadsheets. The children were allegedly seated at desks in three “learning centers” in the home, under the supervision of nannies. The couple allegedly watched the supervision on CCTV set up in a home office.
According to Hochman, “Each one of these defendants monitored the nannies’ discipline of the children that were happening in the three learning centers. And what was going on, has been alleged in the complaint of that discipline, is nothing short of absolute physical abuse, beatings, and punishment on a daily basis,” ABC News reports.
The alleged abuse by the nannies was captured on camera between April 27 and May 7, 2025, per ABC. According to a criminal complaint obtained by the outlet, children could allegedly be heard screaming inside the home’s only room without a camera.
Li was previously charged with one felony count of child abuse and remains at large, according to ABC News. She faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors allege she fled to China following questioning, KABC reports.
No other nannies have been charged in connection with the alleged treatment of the children, who have been in protective custody since the investigation began last May.
Xuan and Zhang were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit child abuse, according to the DA. In addition, Xuan was charged with one count of felony child abuse, one felony count of accessory after the fact, and five counts of dissuading a witness. Zhang was also charged with one count of accessory after the fact and four counts of dissuading a witness. If convicted as charged, Xuan faces a maximum of 17 years and four months in prison and Zhang faces up to 11 years and eight months in prison.
ABC News reports they pleaded not guilty at their arraignment on Oct. 6. Their bail was set at $20 million each.
KABC reports prosecutors initially wanted to set bail at $100 million each. They allege Xuan has access to approximately 200 bank accounts, as well as approximately 70 corporate accounts with a value of $100 million.
According to KABC, the couple’s defense attorney, Mitchell Krems, said “[Xuan] is being unfairly scrutinized because he has so many children. There’s no law against having all these children, none at all, so my client is not abusive whatsoever.”
According to Hochman, the couple’s motivation for having so many children via surrogacy is a part of the ongoing investigation, the Washington Post reports. According to the outlet, the couple ran a surrogacy agency called Mark Surrogacy Investment from their 10,000-square-foot home since 2021. The allegedly paid surrogates up to $135,000 to carry and birth their children.
According to the Post, one of the surrogates was allegedly told Zhang was a single mother who was struggling to conceive, and another surrogate said she was unaware the couple already had more than a dozen children.
The investigation is ongoing.
