A Southern California couple who had 21 children, most of whom were birthed by different surrogate mothers, lied to the surrogates and then subjected the children to vicious beatings and punishments, authorities said.
Silvia Zhang and Guojun Xuan were arrested Tuesday after authorities served a search warrant at their Arcadia mansion as part of a child abuse investigation. They have been charged with conspiracy to commit child abuse and witness intimidation.
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. Zhang also faces one count of accessory after the fact and four counts of dissuading a witness.
“This house could only be described as a house of horrors for these incredibly young children,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said at a Tuesday news conference.
Authorities began investigating the couple last year after a 2-month-old child was brought to the hospital with head injuries. Hochman, citing a criminal complaint, alleged that a nanny struck the baby in the head on May 4, 2025.
Xuan and Zhang did not seek medical attention until days later, he said, noting that the baby has since recovered.
During the investigation, authorities learned that Xuan and Zhang were running a surrogacy ring out of their home and hired surrogates throughout the country.
Hochman said the couple often lied to the women about why they wanted children or how many children they already had.
“One surrogate in particular … was paid for both a first and second surrogacy,” he said. “She was told initially Zhang was a single mother struggling to conceive when she agreed to act as a surrogate. That was a false statement.”
The woman was paid up to $75,000 per surrogacy, the district attorney said.
The couple failed to tell another woman who was 7 months pregnant that they already had 16 other children, he said.
“Another surrogate, they said they were seeking the miracle baby, and they paid that surrogate $135,000,” Hochman said.
Over the years, the children were allegedly abused while Xuan and Zhang watched on 32 motion-activated cameras they set up around the home, Hochman said.
He described three rooms the couple called “learning rooms,” where the children would spend hours seated at desks under the supervision of various nannies.
“Each one of these defendants monitored the nannies’ discipline of the children that were happening in the three learning centers,” the district attorney said.
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He said during one incident, a nanny had forced a child “to maintain a horse stance” and Xuan could be seen on video laughing.
“In another situation, defendant Xuan entered one of the learning centers while a nanny was striking a child, and instructed the nanny to strike the child harder,” he said.
Hochman alleged that Xuan also beat a child across the child’s bare buttocks and struck the child’s head.
“Defendant Xuan also lifted the child into the air by one arm, while continuing to strike him and repeatedly struck the child’s head from side to side with sufficient force that the child’s body lurched into alternating directions with the blows,” he told reporters.
He said the children were punished, physically abused and beaten “on a daily basis.”
One room in the home did not have cameras. Hochman said the children would be taken into the room and could be heard “screaming from inside.”
The couple is accused of trying to cover up the alleged abuse by instructing the children to lie, according to Hochman. During a meeting after the 2-month-old was taken to the hospital, the couple allegedly told the nannies not to leave visible marks on the children.
“This case is unprecedented,” Hochman said. “It is horrific, and the physical abuse, beating, and punishment that these very young children received is despicable.”
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna said the children were subjected to “horrific abuse.”
Fifteen children were removed from the home last year, and another six were found to be in the care of family and friends.
Xuan and Zhang are expected to be arraigned Tuesday. Prosecutors are seeking $100 million bail.
An arrest warrant was previously issued for one of the nannies seen on video violently shaking the 2-month-old baby. The nanny has not been arrested.
