Mansion FULL Of Toddlers STUNS Cops

A wealthy California couple accumulated 22 children through paid surrogates, raising them in a mansion under nanny care until an infant’s catastrophic injuries exposed a world where surveillance cameras captured abuse that parents with full access allegedly chose to ignore.

Story Snapshot

Police discovered 21 children, ages 2 months to 13 years, in a 17,000-square-foot Arcadia mansion after a two-month-old suffered severe head trauma from alleged nanny abuse
Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang used paid surrogates across multiple states to produce most of their 22 children while the home operated with six live-in nannies and 25 surveillance cameras
FBI launched an interstate trafficking probe following a 2023 tip, interviewing surrogates who were unaware of the family’s massive scale
The couple’s property portfolio includes an El Monte location raided multiple times for marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms, and illegal gambling operations
No federal surrogacy regulations exist, allowing the couple to legally commission children across state lines while California law permits compensated gestational surrogacy

When Wealth Meets Unregulated Reproduction

The beige stone mansion with turrets and balconies in Arcadia’s San Gabriel Valley looked like every other wealthy Chinese immigrant enclave in the neighborhood. Neighbors assumed the constant screaming and noise meant someone operated a kindergarten inside. They were half right. Guojun Xuan, a 65-year-old real estate investor, and his 38-year-old partner Silvia Zhang had transformed the sprawling property into something between a daycare facility and a production operation, housing children with military-style buzzcuts who underwent regimented potty training in classroom-style environments. Six live-in nannies managed the daily chaos while 25 surveillance cameras documented everything.

The Hospital Visit That Unraveled Everything

On May 7, 2025, Zhang brought a two-month-old boy to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles with injuries that immediately raised red flags. Doctors found brain bleeding and retinal hemorrhaging consistent with violent shaking, not the accidental fall Zhang initially claimed. Two days later, Arcadia police raided the mansion, discovering 15 children on-site with six more staying at friends’ homes. The couple faced arrest for child neglect while nanny Chunmei Li, identified as the primary suspect in the infant’s injuries, vanished before authorities could detain her. An arrest warrant remains active.

A Surrogacy Empire Built Across State Lines

Zhang claims biological motherhood of all 22 children, though she physically birthed only one or two herself. The rest arrived through paid surrogates hired across multiple states, many unaware they were contributing to a collection that would eventually require a small army of caregivers. California permits compensated gestational surrogacy, but no federal framework governs how many children one couple can commission or requires disclosure to surrogates about the ultimate family size. The FBI received its first tip about the arrangement in 2023, focusing on interstate payments and child transportation that potentially crossed trafficking thresholds.

The Property Portfolio With Criminal Connections

Xuan’s real estate holdings extend beyond the Arcadia mansion. An El Monte property under his ownership faced repeated law enforcement raids between 2022 and 2025, with authorities seizing marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms, and shutting down illegal gambling operations. His office displayed maps marking properties throughout Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Both Xuan and Zhang worked as realtors, building their wealth after divorcing previous spouses within ten days of each other in 2021. The home’s address generated more than three dozen police calls over the years, including noise complaints, altercations, and a 2024 abuse allegation that failed to trigger intervention.

Surveillance That Captured But Did Not Prevent

Lieutenant Kollin Cieadlo of the Arcadia Police Department reviewed footage from the mansion’s extensive camera system and saw what he described as both emotional and physical abuse. The surveillance network gave Xuan and Zhang real-time access to everything happening under their roof, yet the abuse continued unchecked until an infant’s skull injuries forced medical intervention. Detectives are now working with FBI translators to review audio recordings, building a case that remains frustratingly incomplete. Sergeant Mario Castro identified Li as the primary suspect for the infant’s injuries, but questions linger about how parents with 24/7 surveillance access failed to notice or stop what their cameras documented.

Surrogates Kept in the Dark

The FBI interviewed at least four surrogates who carried children for the couple, discovering that none understood the full scope of the family they were helping create. These women received payment, underwent embryo transfers, and delivered babies without knowing two dozen siblings waited at home. The couple filed lawsuits against multiple surrogates and fertility clinics, claiming unauthorized deliveries and custody disputes. One surrogate mentioned in court documents involved women named King and Epps. The legal battles reveal a strategy of aggressive control over every aspect of reproduction and custody, with attorneys in Virginia and California remaining unresponsive to media inquiries.

A Community That Mistook Abuse for Ambition

Arcadia attracts wealthy Chinese immigrants seeking quality schools and safe neighborhoods, making Xuan and Zhang’s presence initially unremarkable. Neighbors heard screaming and witnessed forced potty training visible through windows but dismissed concerns as cultural differences or strict parenting. The home’s institutional feel, with its classroom setup and uniformed children, seemed odd but not criminal. This normalization of obvious warning signs reflects a broader challenge in affluent communities where wealth insulates families from scrutiny. The LA County Department of Children and Family Services ultimately removed all 21 children accessible at the time of the raid, though the total count remains disputed.

The Regulatory Void That Enabled This Operation

No federal surrogacy laws exist, leaving regulation to individual states with wildly different standards. California’s permissive approach allows compensated gestational surrogacy without meaningful oversight of scale or intent. Xuan and Zhang operated within legal boundaries when commissioning children, even as their accumulation raised ethical questions that current law fails to address. The FBI’s involvement stems from interstate commerce aspects rather than surrogacy itself, focusing on payments crossing state lines and potential trafficking indicators. This case exposes how America’s patchwork regulatory system creates opportunities for arrangements that feel exploitative even when technically legal.

Where the Investigation Stands Now

As of late 2025, no charges have been filed against Xuan or Zhang despite their initial arrests for neglect. The fugitive nanny Li remains at large while Arcadia police continue reviewing translated surveillance audio with FBI assistance. Federal investigators contacted surrogacy attorneys and birth mothers, building a case that could establish precedents for large-scale gestational arrangements. The children remain in DCFS custody while their parents fight through lawsuits to regain control. Lieutenant Cieadlo admitted investigators remain uncertain whether they uncovered human trafficking or simply a massive, mismanaged family. That uncertainty captures the challenge perfectly: existing legal categories struggle to classify an operation that used lawful tools to create an outcome that feels fundamentally wrong.