Couple in 21 child abuse case get $20M bail each after prosecutors reveal $100M financial network

A California judge set bail at $20 million each for a couple accused in a child abuse case involving 21 children. Reported by ABC7, prosecutors wanted $100 million apiece, arguing Guojun Xuan had access to roughly 200 bank accounts and at least 70 corporate accounts worth more than $100 million.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged Xuan, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, on Oct. 6 after a 17-month investigation. Both face conspiracy to commit child abuse. Xuan also faces felony child abuse, accessory after the fact and five counts of dissuading a witness, while Zhang faces accessory after the fact and four witness dissuasion counts. Both pleaded not guilty.

The investigation started after Zhang brought a 2-month-old boy to the hospital with a head injury in May 2025. Prosecutors allege a nanny caused the injury, and that Xuan and Zhang tried to conceal abuse before police arrived at their Arcadia home. Investigators then found 16 children living there, including 14 born through surrogacy, with five more tied to the couple’s larger surrogacy operation.

One person in the case had already left the country

Chunmei Li, a nanny separately charged with felony child abuse, remains wanted after prosecutors say she left for China following questioning. She has yet to return to face the charge, giving prosecutors a real example of someone connected to the case ending up outside the country.

Prosecutors have not accused Xuan and Zhang of helping Li leave or planning to follow her. They argued, however, that Xuan’s access to substantial money could allegedly make leaving easier, much like concerns over hidden money funding an escape have factored into other bail fights. With Li still wanted, those financial resources became part of the court’s decision over how high bail needed to be.

ABC7 reported that defense attorney, Mitchell Krems, called the proposed $100 million bail for each defendant “absurd,” and the judge cut that request by 80 percent. Xuan and Zhang still ended up with $20 million bail each, leaving them with a combined $40 million hurdle if they want to leave custody while the case continues.

Prosecutors are still trying to explain why there were so many children

Prosecutors say 16 children were living in the Arcadia home when investigators arrived, but the couple’s surrogacy operation stretched beyond that house. They have connected five more children to the operation, bringing the total linked to Xuan and Zhang to 21. The current conspiracy charge focuses on 15 of the 16 children who lived in the home.

Xuan and Zhang were not just using a surrogacy agency, but prosecutors say they ran one themselves from the Arcadia property. They reportedly began in 2021, and used it to hire surrogates around the country. According to the complaint, at least two of those women allegedly may not have known how large the family already was.

They say the couple allegedly told one surrogate that Zhang struggled to conceive and another that they had only one daughter. Prosecutors say both accounts left out the much larger family and surrogacy operation already happening.

Investigators also found a highly organized setup inside the home. Zhang allegedly tracked the children on a spreadsheet, while more than 30 cameras covered rooms where nannies supervised them, similar to daycare footage showing alleged abuse in another case. Xuan and Zhang could watch those feeds from a shared office, giving them a direct view of what was happening throughout the house.

Attorney Mitchell Krems has tried to offer explanation for why Xuan wanted so many children. He told KABC7 that Xuan hoped they would grow up to become doctors, researchers, inventors and others who could contribute to society. Prosecutors have not accepted that explanation as the final word and say the reason the couple pursued so many births through surrogacy remains under investigation.

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