Guojun Xuan, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, were charged in Los Angeles on 6 October over a home in Arcadia. District attorney Nathan Hochman accuses them of conspiracy to commit child abuse and of intimidating witnesses. Xuan also faces, in the complaint, a child-abuse count and counts of dissuading witnesses. Both pleaded not guilty, according to NBC. The presumption of innocence stands. They have not been convicted.

Prosecutors say dozens of children lived in the house, most born through surrogates. Fifteen were removed after an abuse report; another six were found elsewhere. Ages in the statement run from two months to 13 years. Hochman called the house a “house of horrors”. That is the language of the accusation, not a sentence.

El País returned on 15 October to the fortune. The paper describes dozens of short-lived companies and about 200 accounts, with sums that, in the investigation, pass $100 million. Those are press and case claims, not a civil verdict. The couple are said to have run a surrogacy agency from the home. Their lawyer, in the Spanish account, denied abuse.

A nanny, Chunmei Li, is charged separately with abuse. An arrest warrant remained open in the 6 October statement. Prosecutors asked for very high bail, citing a flight risk. Bail figures have differed from one report to another; we do not close them here as hard fact.

The children, the accusation says, were watched by dozens of cameras. Some nannies were allegedly filmed hitting them. Xuan is accused of telling a nanny, on a day in April 2025, to strike harder. Zhang is alleged, still in the complaint, to have laughed while watching footage. These are charges. A court will try them.

The case is criminal, in Pasadena. It is not a piece on the legality of surrogacy in California. It is about alleged abuse, money and a house in Arcadia, still unproven before a jury.

Image: peter boy12qq12, a street in Arcadia, California, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; the city, not the house in the case.

Sources consulted: Ephemeral companies and 100 million in the bank: the mysterious fortune of the owners of the House of Horrors - El Pais; Pair Charged With Conspiracy, Abusing Surrogate-Born Children in Arcadia Mansion - Los Angeles County DA.