Couple in California Charged Over Alleged Abuse of Children Born Through Surrogacy, in a Case Prosecutors Call Without Precedent
A wealthy couple from a Los Angeles suburb is at the centre of a child abuse case that prosecutors say is unlike anything they have dealt with before. Authorities arrested Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang at their Arcadia, California mansion on Tuesday. The charges involve multiple counts of abuse against at least 14 surrogacy-born children, a few of them just two months old. The couple is also accused of trying to talk a witness out of cooperating. Both have pleaded not guilty. None of this has been tested in court so far.
A Case Prosecutors Call Unprecedented
In a statement, Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said he had never seen so many children allegedly abused in a single case. Xuan is 66, and Zhang is 39. US media describe them as a couple. At a courthouse in Pasadena they entered their pleas, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US news partner.
The charges say the pair conspired to repeatedly abuse 15 of the 16 children who were living in their home at the time. Authorities had already stepped in once before. A year earlier, officials took 21 children out of the couple’s care. Fifteen came straight from the house, while the other six lived elsewhere and were placed in custody afterward.
How the Investigation Began
Officials say the case began in May 2025. That month, Zhang brought a two-month-old boy to a hospital with a head injury. She told medical staff the baby had fallen from a bed. Hospital workers alerted law enforcement, and police went to the family’s home.
There, officers reportedly found three separate rooms called “learning centres,” each supervised by several nannies. Hochman described what investigators found as a “house of horrors.” The mansion allegedly had 32 motion-activated cameras. According to Hochman, the couple used them to monitor the discipline the nannies administered. Footage allegedly shows nannies spanking, slapping or hitting the children.
The couple’s attorney, Mitchell Krems, rejects the version of events involving the hospital visit. He told CBS News in Los Angeles that the allegation was a “mischaracterisation” based on the evidence he has reviewed.
Investigators also say Zhang kept a spreadsheet as of May 2025. It tracked 21 children, including those born to surrogates. That number matches the 21 children later taken into state custody. The first raid on the home came in July 2025. According to Arcadia Police, the kids ranged from just two months old to 13, but the bulk of them were somewhere between one and three.
The Surrogacy Dimension
The case involves more than the alleged abuse. The couple ran their own surrogacy company. They are also accused of making false statements to at least two women who became surrogates. According to the criminal complaint, those statements suggested Zhang was struggling to conceive.
Investigators believe the surrogate mothers came from around the country. They also believe the women did not know they were carrying embryos for the couple at the same time as other surrogates.
Melissa Brisman, an attorney for two of the surrogates, welcomed the charges. She 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.” Her comment shows how the allegations are being viewed by those who worked with the couple’s company.
The Defense
Krems has said Xuan is innocent. He told CBS News that his client “is being targeted for exercising his constitutional right to have a large family.” In other words, the defense wants this to look like a case about family size, not about how the children were treated. Prosecutors see it differently. For them, the case comes down to alleged physical abuse, misleading statements to surrogates, and an effort to pressure a witness.
A not-guilty plea doesn’t say much on its own, except that the prosecution now has to prove what it claims. Until a judge or jury rules, everything in the complaint, the camera footage and what allegedly went on inside the “learning centres” included, is still just an allegation.
A Third Defendant
A third person, identified as Li, is also part of the case. Li is 58. Li was charged earlier with one felony count of child abuse under conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death. Hochman says she’s on the run. There’s a $105,000 warrant (roughly £88,800) out for her arrest. Krems said Li was quickly fired, CBS News LA reported.
What the Defendants Face
If convicted as charged, Xuan faces a possible maximum sentence of 17 years and four months in state prison. Zhang, for her part, could get as much as 11 years and eight months. Li faces up to 12 years.
Why the Case Matters
Several features set this case apart. The number of children is large, and most were very young, between one and three years old. The alleged abuse reportedly happened in a private home that, from the outside, looked like any other wealthy household. The case also touches the surrogacy industry, where women agree to carry a pregnancy for someone else. The attorney for two surrogates has said she hopes the case signals consequences for anyone who abuses that system.
Many questions remain open. These include how the court will treat the camera footage and how the defense will challenge the account of the hospital visit. They also include what the surrogates will say about their dealings with the couple’s company. Right now, the prosecution’s version is the only detailed account out there, though the defense has pushed back on parts of it.
The case is working its way through the Los Angeles court system, and more developments are likely as it continues.
