California pair charged with abusing at least 14 surrogate-born children

Guojun Xuan, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, have been charged with multiple counts of abusing at least 14 surrogate-born children, some as young as two months old, and with dissuading a witness, according to the BBC. The pair, described by US media as a couple, were arrested at their Arcadia mansion on Tuesday. They pleaded not guilty at a Pasadena courthouse, the BBC's US partner CBS News reported.

Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan J Hochman said in a statement: "The number of children who were subjected to this alleged horrific abuse is unprecedented." Xuan and Zhang are accused of conspiring to subject 15 of the 16 children living in their home to repeated physical abuse, according to the BBC. The pair ran their own surrogacy company — a business arranging for women to carry pregnancies for other people — and are accused of making false statements to at least two women who became surrogates, indicating that Zhang was struggling to conceive, according to the criminal complaint. If convicted as charged, Xuan faces a possible maximum sentence of 17 years and four months in state prison, while Zhang faces up to 11 years and eight months.

Officials said the investigation began in May 2025, when Zhang brought a two-month-old boy to hospital with a head injury and told medical staff the baby had fallen from a bed. Hospital staff informed law enforcement, and police who went to the home found three rooms called "learning centres" supervised by multiple nannies, which Hochman described as a "house of horrors". The mansion allegedly had 32 motion-activated cameras, which Hochman said were used by the couple to monitor the discipline given by the nannies. Footage allegedly shows the nannies spanking, slapping or hitting the children.

One nanny, Chunmei Li, 58, is accused of hitting the two-month-old baby two days before he was brought to hospital, according to the BBC. Li was previously charged with one felony count of child abuse under conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death. Hochman said she was on the run with a $105,000 (£88,800) warrant for her arrest.

In July 2025, the couple's home was first raided by authorities, who took 21 children into state custody. The Arcadia Police Department said at the time that the children ranged in age from two months to 13 years old, but most were between one and three years old. Fifteen of the children were taken from the couple's home, while six others were living elsewhere and were also later taken into custody.

The couple's lawyer Mitchell Krems said the allegation was a "mischaracterisation" based on the evidence he has reviewed, CBS News in Los Angeles reported. CBS News quoted the lawyer as saying: "He is being targeted for exercising his constitutional right to have a large family." Investigators believe the surrogate mothers were from around the country and were unaware they were carrying embryos for the couple at the same time, according to the BBC. Melissa Brisman, the attorney for two of the surrogates, told CBS News: "This is wonderful news that people will be held responsible for their actions and there will be consequences if you abuse the surrogacy system."