What investigators found inside the surrogacy house of horror
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Reports reveal that children were allegedly subjected to being spanked on desks and made to perform squats within a classroom setting inside a California residence where numerous surrogate babies were housed, as per alarming search warrants.

Shocking images obtained by the Daily Mail depict babies lined up while caretakers and educators purportedly mistreated and shouted at them in a property owned by a Chinese couple.

Additional photos from the warrants display a 2-month-old infant in a hospital bed, fitted with a neck brace following an emergency transfer from the home due to serious head trauma.

Guojun Xuan, 65, and Silvia Zhang, 38, were arrested in May after cops found 15 children inside their fortress-like $4.1 million mansion in Arcadia, the suspected hub of the alleged surrogacy scheme.

A total of 21 children – including 17 toddlers – were taken into protective custody after the couple and one of their nannies were arrested for child neglect and endangerment. 

Arcadia Police Lt. Kollin Cieadlo told the Daily Mail that Zhang was able to provide investigators with birth certificates that showed she was the legal mother of the children taken into care.

But warrants viewed by the Daily Mail reveal detectives recovered hours of video surveillance footage from inside the nine-bedroom mansion.

The documents detail how the couple’s children sat in makeshift classrooms while their nannies or teachers repeatedly spanked and degraded them.

Police say a nanny can be seen spanking a child on a makeshift classroom desk on surveillance footage taken inside a suspected surrogate baby farm in Arcadia, California 

Detective Jose Robles wrote in the warrant: ‘Multiple CCTV cameras were located throughout the house, including the bedrooms and common areas.

‘We observed three large rooms, which appeared to be set up as a learning center with small desks and large whiteboards.’

The detective added the house also had a large kitchen with four to five refrigerators. 

Multiple strollers, infant car seats, and several boxes of diapers and baby formula were also found in the home. 

Still, pictures obtained by cops via video footage showed the 15 children – all boys except one female toddler – all had ‘buzzed’ haircuts, Robles wrote in the warrant.

The children found at the Arcadia home ranged in aged from 6 months to 3 years old, according to the search warrants.

Under one of the pictures, Robles wrote: ‘Image of teacher/nanny spanking the child in front of the other children.’ 

The picture shows a child on his belly on top of a table with his pants down, just inches away from the other kids as he was being allegedly spanked by the nanny.

In another photo, the child who was allegedly spanked is seen squatting on the floor, arms stretched out in front of him. 

In the background, another ‘nanny or teacher’ is seen hitting another baby in the face while the child sat in a high chair, according to the warrant.

A photo contained in the warrant shows a nanny (left) allegedly hitting one child in the face while another (right) is forced to do squats at the front of the class

A photo contained in the warrant shows a nanny (left) allegedly hitting one child in the face while another (right) is forced to do squats at the front of the class

An image of a child who was rushed from the surrogacy home to the hospital after suffering severe head injuries

An image of a child who was rushed from the surrogacy home to the hospital after suffering severe head injuries

Police were notified of the injuries by hospital staff, leading to the arrest of Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang. A nanny said the child fell off the bed

Police were notified of the injuries by hospital staff, leading to the arrest of Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang. A nanny said the child fell off the bed

Guojun Xuan, 65, (left) and his partner Silvia Zhang, 38, (right) were arrested for felony child endangerment in May, before a search warrant found they had 21 children from surrogate mothers, cops said

Guojun Xuan, 65, (left) and his partner Silvia Zhang, 38, (right) were arrested for felony child endangerment in May, before a search warrant found they had 21 children from surrogate mothers, cops said

A California couple who acquired 21 surrogate-born children kept them in a hotel-style $4.1 million mansion where they were abused, police say

A California couple who acquired 21 surrogate-born children kept them in a hotel-style $4.1 million mansion where they were abused, police say

Boxes of diapers and toys are seen in the dumpsters outside the home in Arcadia, California

Boxes of diapers and toys are seen in the dumpsters outside the home in Arcadia, California

The warrants also showed the severity of one of the children’s injuries that led him to be rushed to a hospital on May 6. 

Robles wrote in the warrant that one of Xuan and Zhang’s children, 2-month-old Walter, suffered injuries consistent with car accidents or babies who have been shaken.

Zhang told investigators she initially took Walter to a nearby hospital, USC Arcadia, on the night of May 5 after one of the nannies, Chunmei Li, 56, notified her that the infant fell off the bed. 

Zhang said she later decided to leave the hospital because it was too crowded. The next morning, Zhang said Walter ‘was doing well’ and was smiling as she changed his diaper. 

Later that afternoon, Zhang said the nanny told her that the baby boy vomited. The nanny then allegedly sent a video to Zhang of the infant ‘shaking.’

‘Silvia said that at that time, she stopped everything she was doing and took Walter to the hospital,’ the detective wrote in the warrant.

Officials issued an arrest warrant for their nanny Chunmei Li, 56, (pictured), who allegedly abused the children 'verbally and physically'

Officials issued an arrest warrant for their nanny Chunmei Li, 56, (pictured), who allegedly abused the children ‘verbally and physically’

Walter was eventually checked into the ICU at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles at 3 pm on May 6. Pictures of the infant included in the search warrant showed baby Walter wearing a tiny neck brace and unconscious in a hospital crib. 

Hospital officials alerted Arcadia Police Department of the boy’s injuries the next day. 

Detectives later obtained video footage of Li allegedly shaking the baby.

‘The video shows Chunmei moving Walter around the room and placing him down out of camera sight,’ Robles wrote in the warrant. 

‘Once Walter is placed out of sight, he can be heard crying. Chunmei then walks over to Walter and goes out of sight as well. Walter cries for a few seconds until a thud or hit is heard, and Walter’s crying suddenly stops.’

The detective continued: ‘Chunmei then picks up Walter, moves him to a crib and places him down. 

‘Walter appears to be unconscious and Chunmei begins to rub Walter’s sternum in what appears to be her attempt to wake him up. 

‘After having no success, Chunmei picks Walter up again and shakes him. Walter still seems unconscious, and Chunmei continues walking around the bedroom with him.’

The warrant includes a still photo of Li holding what appears to be an unconscious baby Walter. 

Investigators added they obtained video footage of Walter having seizures. 

Silvia Zhang told investigators she and her partner Guojun Xuan wanted a 'large family'

Silvia Zhang told investigators she and her partner Guojun Xuan wanted a ‘large family’

Guojun Xuan pictured in a police mug shot

Guojun Xuan pictured in a police mug shot

The detectives also included closeup photos of Walter crying, with a visible large bump on the top of his head and the front of his right forehead. 

Detectives allege the close-up picture of the baby was found in Zhang’s cell phone and was allegedly taken on May 4. 

Li told detectives she had been watching Walter since he was born and denied ‘ever becoming frustrated with Walter, even after he fell from the bed,’ Robles wrote in the warrant.

Li was also arrested on May 9, but her whereabouts are unknown, Arcadia Police officials said. 

Bail for Zhang and Xuan was set at $500,000 each. They are still free on bail while an investigation is ongoing, Arcadia Police officials told the Daily Mail.

In another search warrant obtained by the Daily Mail, Zhang told investigators two out of the 21 were her biological children. 

Investigators believe the couple solicited babies from surrogate mothers from around the country, none of whom knew they were carrying embryos for the same couple at the same time.

Cieadlo told the Daily Mail that Zhang told investigators they ‘wanted a large family.’ 

Kayla Elliot, one of the surrogate mothers hired by the couple, set up a GoFundMe as she tries to regain custody of the baby girl she gave birth to. 

‘I was a bit hysterical,’ Elliot told NBC News. ‘You just don’t expect that you’re going to go through a pregnancy and a delivery and then hand the baby over to their parents and then all of a sudden find out that there was abuse and neglect going on.’

One of the surrogate mothers who gave up her child to the couple, Kayle Elliot, 27, said she was heartbroken to discover that her baby girl was not given to a loving family with only one child, as she had been told

One of the surrogate mothers who gave up her child to the couple, Kayle Elliot, 27, said she was heartbroken to discover that her baby girl was not given to a loving family with only one child, as she had been told

All of the children were taken into the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services, with Elliot saying she wants to take her home to Texas to be ‘in a nurturing environment rather than staying in foster care.’

Elliott said she connected with Zhang and Xuan through an agency called Mark Surrogacy. 

The Texas woman said she later learned the agency was registered at the couple’s Arcadia address. 

Zhang refused to comment when reached by the Daily Mail. 

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