21 children were removed from the Arcadia home in July 2025
The couple was arrested Tuesday at the Arcadia mansion and made their initial appearance at a Pasadena courthouse, where they entered not-guilty pleas, according to CBS News.
The criminal complaint accuses Xuan and Zhang of conspiring to subject 15 of the 16 children living in their home to repeated physical abuse, and of dissuading a witness. Prosecutors said 21 children were ultimately removed from the couple’s custody in a July 2025 raid on the mansion, with ages ranging from two months to 13 years — most between one and three years old, according to the Arcadia Police Department.
The investigation 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, prosecutors said. Hospital staff reported the case to law enforcement.
When officers arrived at the home, they found three rooms the couple had designated as “learning centres,” each under the supervision of multiple nannies, according to Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman. The mansion contained 32 motion-activated cameras that prosecutors said were used by the couple to monitor the discipline administered by the nannies. Footage allegedly shows the nannies spanking, slapping, and hitting children, according to the complaint.
One nanny, Chunmei Li, 58, is accused of hitting the two-month-old baby who suffered the head injury two days before he was brought to the hospital. Krems said Li was quickly fired, CBS News LA reported. Li was previously charged with one felony count of child abuse under conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death, and Hochman said she was on the run with a $105,000 (£88,800) warrant for her arrest.
In July 2025, the Arcadia Police Department first raided the home, taking 21 children into state custody. Fifteen of those children were taken from the mansion itself, while six others were living elsewhere and were also later taken into custody.
The couple ran their own surrogacy company and are 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. As of May 2025, Zhang maintained a spreadsheet that tracked 21 children, including those born to surrogates.
Prosecutors believe the surrogate mothers were from around the country and were unaware they were carrying embryos for the couple at the same time.
Melissa Brisman, an attorney representing two of the surrogates, told CBS News: “This is wonderful news that people will be held responsible for their actions and there will be consequences if you abuse the surrogacy system.”
The couple’s lawyer, Mitchell Krems, characterized the allegations as a “mischaracterisation” based on the evidence he has reviewed. Krems said Xuan was innocent and “being targeted for exercising his constitutional right to have a large family,” CBS News reported.
“The number of children who were subjected to this alleged horrific abuse is unprecedented,” Hochman said in a statement. He separately called the home a “house of horrors.”
If convicted as charged, Xuan faces a possible maximum sentence of 17 years and four months in state prison, while Zhang faces up to 11 years and eight months. Li faces up to 12 years.