Two dual Chinese-American nationals have been charged with child abuse offences in what a State prosecutor called a case “unprecedented” in scale due to the number of children involved.
A 66-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman who ran a surrogacy company were charged with conspiracy to commit child abuse in connection with the alleged beating of at least 14 surrogate-born children, some as young as 2 months old, at their Arcadia mansion home, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has announced.
Guojun Xuan, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, both of Arcadia, are scheduled to be arraigned in Pasadena Courthouse with prosecutors asking that bail be set at $100 million for each defendant, citing flight risk and the nature and extent of the alleged crimes.
Both defendants face one count of conspiracy to commit child abuse. Xuan also faces one felony count of child abuse, one felony count of accessory after the fact and five felony counts of dissuading a witness. Zhang faces one count of accessory after the fact and four counts of dissuading a witness.