California couple charged with abusing surrogate children in Arcadia mansion

Arrest and felony charges

Los Angeles County prosecutors announced felony charges on 6 October 2026 against Guojun Xuan, 66, and Silvia Shasha Zhang, 39, following a multi-agency child welfare investigation. The defendants face charges including conspiracy to commit child abuse, accessory after the fact, and dissuading a witness, while Xuan faces an additional felony count of child abuse. District Attorney Nathan Hochman requested bail of $100 million for the couple, citing significant flight risk and the severe nature of the offenses. Xuan and Zhang were scheduled to appear for arraignment at a courthouse in Pasadena, California, on Tuesday afternoon. Under the filed complaint, one of the defendants faces a maximum sentence of more than 17 years in state prison.

The physical abuse, beating and punishment that these very young children received is despicable.

Operation of the household

The case centers on a domestic surrogacy agency that Xuan and Zhang managed directly from their 10,287-square-foot mansion in Arcadia. Law enforcement identified at least 21 children tied to the couple, ranging in age from two months to 13 years, with most aged between one and three. Police believe Zhang gave birth to one or two of the children, while surrogates contracted across the United States carried the others. The couple produced birth certificates from California and other states listing Zhang as the mother, telling investigators they wanted a large family. In 2025, authorities removed 15 children from the Arcadia residence, and investigators later accounted for six other children residing at separate locations.

Evidence of coordinated abuse

Inside the Arcadia residence, the couple established three designated rooms called learning centers, where young children sat at desks for multiple hours daily under nanny supervision. A surveillance network of approximately 32 motion-activated cameras recorded video and audio throughout the house, documenting systemic physical abuse. Prosecutors stated that Xuan and Zhang directed the beatings, ordered nannies not to leave visible marks, and watched the camera feeds while laughing. Security footage showed Xuan entering a learning room, instructing a nanny to strike a child harder, and delivering open-hand blows to the child's head and behind. Nannies were also recorded carrying children into an unmonitored room where audio equipment captured children screaming.

Investigation origins and fugitive nanny

Criminal scrutiny began in May 2025 when hospital medical staff reported that a two-month-old infant had arrived with traumatic head injuries. Zhang claimed the child had fallen from a bed, but physicians determined the head trauma was consistent with violent shaking by a caregiver. Arcadia police made an initial arrest in May 2025 but deferred formal charges to complete a broader investigation into the household. Authorities subsequently issued an arrest warrant for nanny Chunmei Li after video showed her abusing the infant, though she remains unlocated. The couple's surrogacy arrangements and allegations of deceptive contracts were also the subject of reporting in 2026 by The New Yorker and the podcast In the Dark.

This house could only be described as a house of horrors.