LOS ANGELES, CA — A wealthy Arcadia mansion once linked to a surrogacy business is now at the center of a sweeping child abuse case that has drawn accusations of a “house of horrors.” Prosecutors say Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang operated a home where multiple surrogate-born children lived under heavy surveillance, while police and doctors began looking more closely after a two-month-old baby named Walter was brought to a hospital with a head injury in May 2025.
The couple was first detained after police searched the home, then arrested again in October and charged with conspiracy to commit child abuse. They deny the allegations and remain in custody with bond set at $20 million each. Authorities say the investigation uncovered a far larger family network than had previously been known, with multiple children living at or connected to the property.
Doctors and police became suspicious after baby Walter was taken to hospital
The case began when Walter, then two months old, was brought for treatment in Arcadia, an affluent suburb east of Los Angeles. A woman who said she was his mother told police the baby had fallen from a bed, but the doctor who examined him believed the injuries looked more like those seen in a car crash or from shaking.
That mismatch between the explanation and the medical assessment prompted authorities to move quickly. Police searched the mansion where Walter lived and briefly detained Xuan and Zhang. Prosecutors later said the scene they encountered was unlike a normal family home, describing it as a place where cameras, nannies and very young children were all part of a disturbing pattern.
According to the complaint, Walter’s injuries were caused by a nanny, Chunmei Li, who has been charged with child abuse under conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death. Li has not been arrested and remains on the run.
Investigators say the mansion functioned like a camera-filled labyrinth
Prosecutors say the property contained 32 cameras and appeared to be set up to monitor the children almost constantly. Video allegedly showed young children spending long periods sitting by desks, while another room had no camera at all. Even so, other cameras captured nannies carrying children into that room, and screaming could then be heard from inside.
At an October news conference, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said the home “could only be described as a house of horrors” for the very young children brought there through the surrogacy process. He said the scale of the operation and the conditions inside raised serious concerns about what happened in the residence over time.
The mansion itself was a 10,000-square-foot property with nine bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and a heated pool. Public listings show it sold for $3.3 million in 2021, the same year the couple moved in. The address was also tied to a surrogacy agency prosecutors say they used to recruit multiple surrogates.
The couple used their home address for a surrogacy business, prosecutors say
Investigators say the property was registered to a surrogacy agency run by Xuan and Zhang, allowing them to recruit several surrogate mothers. Court records and corporate filings cited in the case indicate that Zhang was listed as the manager of Mark Surrogacy, and that the Arcadia mansion was used as the company’s address.
Deputy District Attorney MacKenzie Cameron Teymouri told a judge during an October 16 hearing that no other intended parent was ever matched through the agency the couple operated from their home. Prosecutors allege that the setup allowed them to present themselves as a standard family while privately managing a much broader surrogacy arrangement.
Lawyers for the couple dispute that picture. Mitchell Krems, speaking for Xuan, has said the allegations are a mischaracterization and that his client is innocent. Matt Koohanim, who represents Zhang, said the case should be handled through the proper legal process.
Surrogates say they were not told the full picture
The case has also opened a window into how the couple arranged their family through more than one surrogacy channel. Some women were connected through Mark Surrogacy, while others worked with Babytree Surrogacy, a California-based agency whose founder said Xuan approached him in 2018 seeking a large family.
Several women have since sued, saying they were not told that the agency was run by the same people who wanted the children. One lawsuit filed by Tronderrica James alleges fraud and intentional misrepresentation, saying she would not have moved forward if she had known Zhang’s connection to the business. A separate suit filed in August by five women makes similar claims.
Those women said they were led to believe they were helping create one child for one family. Their complaint says each surrogate was given the impression that she was the only woman carrying for the couple, even though the defendants had already built a much larger network of children and caregivers.
The family’s size and finances drew new scrutiny from prosecutors
At an October 16 hearing, Teymouri told the court that the family’s net worth in 2025 was substantially more than $100 million. He also said investigators found three passports linked to Xuan, from Mexico, China and the United States.
Court records and reporting cited by the BBC describe Xuan as a man with a long public profile that began in China, where he was born in Zhejiang in 1959. He later worked as an accountant, served in local political bodies, and after moving to the United States became president of the US Xinjiang Chamber of Commerce and vice president of the China America Federation.
His public connections in California also came under scrutiny after a photo showed him holding hands with former Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang at an event in 2022. During Wang’s campaign that year, Xuan donated $4,900 through a company in his name. Wang later resigned as mayor after the US Department of Justice charged her with acting as an illegal agent of China; she pleaded guilty to the felony count.
At least 26 children are tied to the case as custody battles continue
Authorities say 26 children are now involved with the family. Zhang reportedly kept a spreadsheet listing 21 children as of May 2025, and those children were placed into state custody while investigators worked through the allegations. Five more children were born after that, according to reporting by CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.
One baby girl born to a surrogate remains in Virginia with surrogate mother Melissa Epps, who decided to keep the child after learning about the investigation. Xuan and Zhang later sued Epps, seeking the baby’s return and asking for $1 million, but the case has continued as she received help from legal aid counsel.
Virginia Legal Aid Society attorney Pamela DeCamp said Epps and the child were grateful for the efforts of Los Angeles County prosecutors. The baby recently turned one, and DeCamp said she remains safe and happy in Virginia. The wider criminal case is scheduled to continue next March.
