Insets, left to right: Guojun Xuan, Silvia Zhang (Arcadia Police Department). Background: The California home that Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang allegedly turned into a surrogacy compound, where prosecutors say they abused children (KTLA/YouTube).
A California couple turned their Los Angeles County mansion into a “horrific” surrogacy compound where at least 14 surrogate-born children — some as young as 2 months old — were repeatedly abused and beaten by “nannies,” prosecutors say.
Guojun Xuan, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, were charged Tuesday with one count each of conspiracy to commit child abuse. Xuan also faces one felony count of child abuse, one felony count of accessory after the fact and five felony counts of dissuading a witness.
The couple employed “multiple nannies to supervise and discipline the children” residing at their Arcadia “mansion,” including a woman who has already been charged with child abuse under conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death, according to a Los Angeles County District Attorney”s Office press release.
Twenty-one kids allegedly lived with Xuan and Zhang. Fifteen suffered “repeated physical abuse” and 14 were “surrogate-born children,” according to the DA’s Office. The couple was investigated and arrested last year but they were later released without being charged.
“The number of children who were subjected to this alleged horrific abuse is unprecedented,” Los Angeles County DA Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement Tuesday.
The alleged abuse came to light after police responded to a report that a 2-month-old boy had suffered a head injury. Xuan and Zhang are accused of creating a home where children were “systematically beaten and punished if they did not do what they were told.”
According to the criminal complaint, Xuan and Zhang operated their own surrogacy company and allegedly made false statements to at least two women who became surrogates. One of the women was allegedly told that Zhang was “a single mother struggling to conceive.”
The “nannies” hired to care for the surrogate-born children spent hours each day in makeshift classrooms inside Xuan and Zhang’s Arcadia residence, according to the complaint.
“Xuan and Zhang caused three rooms within the Arcadia residence to be configured as ‘learning centers,’ where numerous young children spent several hours each day seated at desks under the supervision of nannies,” the complaint alleges. “Xuan and Zhang maintained a system of approximately 32 motion-activated cameras recording video and audio throughout the Arcadia residence, including cameras monitoring the children and nannies.”
Over an 11-day stretch from April 27 through May 7, 2025, video allegedly captured nannies spanking, slapping and hitting children. During one incident, a nanny struck a child with a shoe while Zhang and another nanny “laughed while watching the footage,” according to the complaint.
On April 30, 2025, prosecutors say, Xuan entered a learning center and told a nanny disciplining a youngster to “strike the child harder.” He then repeatedly spanked the child, struck the child’s head with an open hand and lifted the child by one arm while continuing to hit the child, the complaint says.
The cameras did not cover every part of the house, according to the DA’s office. One room lacked surveillance, and some nannies were seen “carrying children into this room,” the complaint says.
“Children could be heard screaming from inside,” prosecutors allege.
The 2-month-old boy who suffered the head injury was struck by a nanny on May 4, 2025, according to the complaint. Xuan and Zhang allegedly waited two days before seeking medical care, telling medical personnel that the infant “had fallen from a bed,” the complaint says.
The pair also allegedly coached the children to stay silent with police and hid the sticks used to strike them.
“Zhang instructed the children … to deny that they had been beaten,” the complaint says.
The nanny who has already been charged, Chunmei Li, is wanted on a $105,000 arrest warrant, the DA’s office says. Xuan and Zhang were scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday at the Pasadena Courthouse.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, the state removed the 21 kids living with Xuan and Zhang. The couple allegedly recruited surrogates through Facebook.
If convicted, Xuan faces up to 17 years and four months in state prison. Zhang faces up to 11 years and eight months. Li faces up to 12 years.
