The Sydney Morning Herald
· collected 2026-10-07 · by Philip Marcelo, Jaimie Ding
An extremely wealthy husband and wife amassed a brood of 21 children through a surrogacy scheme and raised them in a “house of horrors”, prosecutors alleged.
asserted
prosecutors → amass → horrors
Guojun Xuan, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, were arrested at their sprawling mansion in Arcadia, a city about 20 kilometres northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
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Xuan → arrest → Angeles
The children suffered daily beatings from cruel nannies as the couple watched over a network of surveillance cameras and laughed, according to prosecutors.
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couple → suffer → prosecutors
The couple allegedly recruited women across the country to serve as surrogates, promising them that they were just looking for another child to grow their family.
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they → recruit → family
The couple face several counts of child abuse as well as conspiracy to commit child abuse, accessory after the fact and dissuading a witness, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
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couple → face → Hochman
It is horrific,” he said during a morning news conference.
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he → say → conference
“The physical abuse, beating and punishment that these very young children received is despicable.”
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children → receive → that
In an afternoon court appearance in nearby Pasadena, the couple pleaded not guilty and denied all allegations with a Mandarin interpreter.
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couple → plead → interpreter
Prosecutors sought $US100 million ($143 million) bail per person because of the serious nature of the charges and because they are flight risks.
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they → seek → charges
The couple have more than 200 personal and 70 corporate bank accounts with annual transfers of $US250 million, Deputy District Attorney MacKenzie Teymouri said.
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Teymouri → have → million
Both were said to have US, Mexican and Chinese passports, though investigators have not determined if they were all legitimate; prosecutors said they used fake passports to create some of the bank accounts.
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they → say → accounts
Inside the couple’s home, investigators found a bank statement showing more than $US70 million in one account along with assets such as antique sculptures and specialty alcohol that added up to nearly $US10 million, according to Teymouri.
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that → find → Teymouri
LA County Superior Court Judge Kerry White set bail at $US20 million each with home detention and a protective order against visiting their children.
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White → set → children
Mitchell Krems, the couple’s attorney, called the bail amount “absurd” for the type of charges his clients face and said Zhang’s health should be taken into consideration.
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health → call → consideration
Zhang, who appeared in court in a wheelchair, has a rare form of leukemia and is recovering from a bone marrow transplant, Krems said.
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Krems → appear → transplant
Fifteen children were removed from the opulent home last year after an allegation of abuse, and another six living elsewhere were also located.
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six → remove → abuse
They ranged in age from two months to 13 years, with most between one and three.
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They → range → one
Police believe Zhang gave birth to one or two of the children, while the rest were carried and delivered by surrogates.
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rest → believe → surrogates
Hochman said the couple set up an agency, Mark Surrogacy, that they operated from home and used to hire surrogates throughout the US.
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they → say → US
But prosecutors said the couple misled the women, telling some that they could not conceive and others that they only had one child and wanted one more to complete their family.
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they → say → family
“The house could only be described as a house of horrors for these incredible young children,” Hochman said.
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Hochman → describe → children
Zhang and Xuan were first arrested in May 2025 after a hospital reported that their two-month-old infant had a traumatic head injury, the result of being violently shaken by a nanny, according to Arcadia police.
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infant → arrest → police
Police did not file charges at the time, saying they needed to complete the investigation.
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they → file → investigation
Hochman said the couple set up three rooms they called learning centres, where the children spent several hours a day sitting at desks under the supervision of nannies.
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children → say → nannies
Through an extensive surveillance system including motion-activated cameras, the couple watched and at times laughed as the nannies physically abused the children, including daily beatings, he said.
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he → include → beatings
In one video, Xuan is shown entering a room and telling a nanny to strike a child harder, Hochman said, and in another he joins the nanny in hitting the child.
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he → show → child
The nannies were allegedly told “not to leave any physical marks on the children,” and when police arrived to investigate in May 2025, the children were told to deny they had been beaten.
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they → tell → May
After examining the surveillance video, police issued an arrest warrant for Chunmei Li, the nanny seen hurting the two-month-old infant.
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police → examine → infant
However, she fled to Tijuana, Mexico, and then China.
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she → flee → Tijuana
After the children were taken into state custody, Xuan and Zhang were allowed supervised visits.
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Xuan → take → visits
During one such visit, Zhang read to a child and wrote in the book, “Tell them you’re happy with me, tell them you want to come home,” lead prosecutor Teymouri said.
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Teymouri → read → them
Krems said it was “patently false” that Xuan was involved in beating any of the children and blamed all the abuse on the nannies.
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Xuan → say → nannies
“My client, Mr Xuan, intervened swiftly,” Krems said.
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Krems → intervene → ?
“He fired the nanny, excised her from the house.”
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He → fire → house
Prosecutor says motive for discipline remains under investigation
When asked about the couple’s motivation, Hochman said that was part of the investigation, as was the parentage of each child.
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parentage → say → child
Krems, Xuan’s attorney, previously told ABC7 that Xuan’s goal was to raise children who become productive adults.
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who → tell → children
“The reason he has all these children is because he wants them to contribute to society.
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them → have → society
He is not a man who is self-indulgent,” Krems said.
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Krems → say → ?
“Some who are wealthy might spend on jewellery or cars, but he is actually spending his resources to help his children become educated.
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children → spend → resources
After Tuesday’s court hearing, he said Xuan and Zhang emigrated from China to exercise their freedom and have as many children as they want.
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they → say → children
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
