Disturbing details emerged Friday in the case of a Chinese-American couple accused of raising 21 children inside their Southern California mansion as part of an alleged mass surrogacy operation.
Guojun Xuan, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, allegedly ran a “house of horrors” at their $4 million home in Arcadia, where prosecutors say the children were subjected to abuse.
During a bail hearing, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney MacKenzie Teymouri said the couple concealed nearly two dozen children from the outside world and prevented them from seeing sunlight, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“They didn’t go to school outside the home. They didn’t go to playgrounds. They didn’t go to restaurants,” Teymouri said. “They lived in this home and witnessed violence in the kitchen, in the bathrooms, in the bedrooms, in the foyer.”
Authorities also discovered the cremated remains of a surrogate child that had been sent to the residence after dying in Florida, Teymouri said. She told the court that the couple never opened the box and appeared “indifferent” to what happened to the child, the Times reported.
Prosecutors said the children were expected to work almost around the clock while studying “math, Mandarin and English.” They were allegedly required to sit upright and pay attention or face beatings.
According to prosecutors, the children spent their days in “makeshift classrooms,” from early morning until evening.
“From sunup, to sundown, these children, whether they’re in a high chair or old enough to sit at a desk, sat in what can only be described as makeshift classrooms,” Teymouri said, according to the Times.
The children were kept indoors for so long that, after the Department of Children and Family Services took custody of them last year, they were reportedly “scared to go to the park because they hadn’t been outside,” Teymouri said.
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Prosecutors obtained video showing Xuan sweeping a flashlight across the beds of sleeping children and allegedly beating those who were awake. Teymouri said she had to mute footage because of the “constant screaming” of children in the background, which she attributed to repeated beatings.
Xuan faces charges of conspiracy to commit a crime, child abuse, accessory after the fact and five counts of dissuading a witness.
Zhang has been charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and accessory after the fact, as well as four counts of dissuading a witness.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Caroline Lugo ordered the couple held in lieu of $20 million bail, agreeing with prosecutors that they posed a flight risk.
Teymouri also said the couple helped their nanny, Chunmei Li, flee to China. Li had been charged with child abuse after allegedly hitting a child so severely that the child required hospitalization for bleeding on the brain.
Mitchell Krems, Xuan’s attorney, said his client had no prior criminal convictions. He blamed the alleged abuse on nannies and argued that the couple had become targets of anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States.
Krems further argued that Xuan should be released because his health had deteriorated in police custody. Xuan is undergoing leukemia treatment and has become permanently dependent on a wheelchair, his attorney said.
Zhang’s attorney argued that the high bail amount was unnecessary, pointing to what he described as the children’s luxurious living conditions.
“These kids, there was no cigarette burn marks. There was no cages. There was no dog collars. There was no abuse by belts. These kids were well nutritioned, they were getting education every day,” he said.
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