A California couple running a private surrogacy business has been arrested and charged with multiple counts of abusing at least 14 surrogate-born children and dissuading a witness, law enforcement officials announced.
Guojun Xuan, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, were arrested on Tuesday at their home in Arcadia, California. According to prosecutors, the pair are accused of conspiring to subject 15 of the 16 children living in their mansion to repeated physical abuse. Some of the children involved were as young as two months old.
“The number of children who were subjected to this alleged horrific abuse is unprecedented,” Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement.
The defendants entered pleas of not guilty during an appearance at a courthouse in Pasadena, as reported by [BBC News](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crx23dvnp8vxo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss) via its U.S. partner CBS News.
Investigators revealed that Xuan and Zhang operated their own surrogacy company. The criminal complaint alleges that the couple made false statements to at least two women who agreed to act as surrogates, falsely indicating that Zhang was struggling to conceive.
The law enforcement investigation originated after Zhang brought a two-month-old infant to a hospital with a severe head injury, telling medical staff that the child had fallen off a bed. Officials later determined that a nanny employed at the residence, 58-year-old Chunmei Li, allegedly struck the infant two days before the hospital visit.
Li was previously charged with one felony count of child abuse under conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death. District Attorney Hochman confirmed that Li remains at large with an active $105,000 arrest warrant.
In July 2025, authorities executed a search warrant at the couple’s Arcadia residence, taking 21 children into state custody. The Arcadia Police Department stated that 15 children were removed directly from the mansion, while six others were located elsewhere before being taken into protective custody. The children ranged in age from two months to 13 years old, with the majority aged between one and three years old.
Prosecutorial filings indicate the Arcadia home was fitted with 32 motion-activated cameras, which Hochman stated were utilized by the couple to monitor disciplinary measures administered by household nannies.
Defense attorney Mitchell Krems, representing the couple, rejected the prosecution’s claims, describing the allegations as a “mischaracterisation” of the evidence. Krems stated that Xuan is innocent and noted that Li was promptly terminated from her position following the hospital incident.
Sources
– [BBC News](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crx23dvnp8vxo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss)
Source: BBC News World
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Story synopsis gathered from: BBC News World — source
