Crimeupdated 1h ago2 min read
Arcadia Couple Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang Plead Not Guilty in Surrogacy Child Abuse Case
Arcadia couple Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang arrested on child abuse conspiracy tied to surrogacy. Housing 21 children, most born via surrogates, at a lavish Arcadia mansion.
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Arcadia arrests, bail sought
Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies raided an Arcadia home on Tuesday morning and arrested Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang, a couple accused in a surrogacy scandal involving 21 child victims, authorities said. Prosecutors said the couple were at the center of the case and that the criminal complaint lists 10 counts against the couple and 55 overt acts of conspiracy to commit child abuse.
Nathan Hochman and Sheriff Robert Luna held a news conference after the arrests, and Hochman described the Arcadia mansion as "a house of horrors." A court arraignment on Tuesday afternoon ended with the couple pleading not guilty and denying all allegations, and Judge Kerry White set bail at $20 million US each with home detention and a protective order against visiting their children.
Alleged abuse and surveillance
Prosecutors alleged that the children suffered daily beatings from cruel nannies as Xuan and Zhang watched over a network of surveillance cameras and laughed. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan 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.
Hochman said the couple instructed nannies about physical discipline and told them "not to leave any physical marks on the children," and he said police issued an arrest warrant for Chunmei Li after examining surveillance footage. Mitchell Krems told NBC News that Xuan did not commit child abuse, saying he "didn’t need surrogacy for money" and is being "unfairly scrutinized" because of his Chinese background and unusually large family.
Nanny at large, next steps
Investigators said the case began after their then-2-month-old son suffered an apparent head injury, and a search warrant obtained by KABC stated that footage showed the baby "[crying] for a few seconds until a thud or hit is heard." Investigators said the couple's nanny, Chunmei Li, was captured on security camera video holding the infant inside the home, and investigators said Li remains at large and is thought to have fled to China.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kerry White set bail at $20 million US each with home detention and a protective order against visiting their children, and the couple pleaded not guilty during an afternoon court appearance in nearby Pasadena, Calif. Prosecutors sought $100 million US bail per person because of the serious nature of the charges and because they are flight risks, and the couple's attorney Mitchell Krems called the bail amount "absurd" for the type of charges his clients face.