A defendant accused of allowing more than a dozen surrogate children to be abused at a “house of horrors” in Acadia had fled the country to avoid a child abuse investigation, a prosecutor told court on Friday.
Los Angeles County Deputy District Atty. MacKenzie Teymouri also told the judge Friday that Guojun Xu, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, had trapped their more than 20 children in their Arcadia mansion for years, barely allowing them to see the light of day.
During a search of the house last week, police also found the cremated remains of another surrogate child who had been mailed to the house; the baby died shortly after birth in Florida, Teimuri said. Taimouri said the defendant never opened the box and he said Xuan and Zhang were “indifferent” to the child’s welfare.
Friday afternoon’s hearing was prompted by an attempt by lawyers for Xuan and Zhang to have their clients released on their own recognizance. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Caroline Lugo ordered them held in lieu of $20 million bail. Taimouri filed a motion last week seeking bail of $100 million, citing the couple’s extreme wealth.
The couple were charged last week with conspiracy to commit child abuse and witness intimidation. Prosecutors said the couple directed six nannies they hired to repeatedly beat the children for even the slightest misbehavior at their in-home “learning center.”
They have pleaded not guilty and have denied the charges through their lawyers, who declined to comment on the new charges brought by prosecutors in court on Friday.
Security system monitor footage taken from the home last year showed “thousands” of physical abuse incidents over a 10-day period, according to a bail motion filed by prosecutors last week. Xuan is also accused of assaulting one of the children.
Earlier this week, a New York Times report revealed that Zhang had previously been charged with child abuse for leaving his eldest daughter in a hot car for hours, while Xuan was accused in a civil lawsuit of using violence during a landlord-tenant dispute.
Xuan’s attorney, Mitchell Krems, previously noted that his client had never been convicted.
“There are no adjudicated charges of any type of violence against my client at this time,” he said.
Krems blamed the alleged abuse on the couple’s nanny and suggested that Xuan and Zhang were victims of rising anti-China sentiment in the United States
According to the Times, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services received seven referrals involving Xuan and Zhang between 2019 and 2025, but took no action to remove the children from the home until last year.
In court Friday, Teimuri revealed more about the defendant’s past child abuse allegations and the conditions at home.
In 2019, Zhang fled to China after being charged with child abuse for leaving her daughter in a hot car, Teimuri said. Taimouri said police arrived on the scene after the girl, who was 8 years old at the time, called 911 from inside the car. Zhang was visiting Xuan at that time. It is unclear when Zhang will return to the United States and reunite with Xuan.
The children in Arcadia’s home were isolated from society and almost never left home, Teimuri said.
“They don’t go out to school. They don’t go to the playground. They don’t go to restaurants,” she said. “They lived in the home and witnessed violence in the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and foyer.”
Children receive “mathematics, Mandarin and English” instruction almost around the clock. Regardless of their age, they should sit up straight and pay attention or risk being beaten, Taimouri said.
“From sunrise to sunset, these children, whether they were in high chairs or old enough to sit at tables, sat in what can only be described as makeshift classrooms,” she said.
Shown in the center is a view of Sylvia Zhang and Junxuan Guo’s home in Arcadia.
(Alan J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
After the children were detained by the Department of Children and Family Services last year, they “were afraid to go to the park because they hadn’t been outside,” Teimuri said.
Authorities have video showing Xuan walking around rooms where children sleep in rows and scanning them with a flashlight “like a warden,” according to Taimouri. Prosecutors said that when one of the children woke up, Xuan hit them with his backhand and ordered them to go back to sleep.
Krems argued in court that his client should be released because his health deteriorated in the custody of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Xuan, who is recovering from leukemia treatment, has “a hole in his chest” and is so ill that he now permanently requires a wheelchair, Krems said.
Zhang’s lawyer, Mark Koohanim, said the alleged child abuse was not serious enough to warrant a high bail.
“These children have no cigarette burn marks. No cages. No dog collars. No leash abuse. These children are well-nourished and receive an education every day,” he said, adding that they live in an expensive sprawling mansion in Arcadia.
But Lugo agreed with Taimouri that the family’s extreme wealth and potential flight risk required her to set high bail. One of the nannies, Li Chunmei, had previously been charged with child abuse for beating one of the children, causing a brain hemorrhage. Court documents show Li fled to China with the help of Xuan and Zhang.
Tamuri said that while reviewing video evidence in the case, she had to watch the footage on mute because of the “near-constant screaming” of children in the background. Prosecutors argued the beatings essentially never stopped, claiming the video showed the nanny beating one child and then turning the violence on other young children who cried as they watched.