Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan J Hochman announced charges against Guojun Xuan, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, for conspiring to subject 15 of the 16 children living in their home to repeated physical abuse, as well as dissuading a witness. The charges follow an investigation that began in May 2025, when Zhang brought a two-month-old boy to a hospital with a head injury, telling medical staff the baby had fallen from a bed.
Hospital staff alerted law enforcement. When officers arrived at the couple's mansion, they discovered three different rooms labeled 'learning centres' under the supervision of multiple nannies. Hochman described the property as a 'house of horrors'. The mansion allegedly contained 32 motion-activated cameras, which prosecutors say the couple used to monitor the children.
Twenty-one children were removed from the couple's custody last year. As of May 2025, prosecutors say Zhang maintained a spreadsheet tracking 21 children, including those born to surrogates. The pair are also accused of making false statements to at least two women who became surrogates, indicating that Zhang was struggling to conceive, according to the criminal complaint.
The couple's lawyer, Mitchell Krems, said the allegations were a 'mischaracterisation' based on the evidence he has reviewed, according to CBS News in Los Angeles.
'The number of children who were subjected to this alleged horrific abuse is unprecedented,' Hochman said in a statement. The case has raised alarming questions about oversight in surrogacy arrangements and the welfare of children born through such programs.