Latest news with #ChunmeiLi
Daily Mail
16-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Age gap couple arrested at $4m mansion after having TWENTY ONE children by surrogates...17 of whom are toddlers
A California couple were taken into custody after investigators found they had 21 children from surrogate mothers as part of a suspected trafficking ring. Guojun Xuan, 65, and Silvia Zhang, 38, were arrested for felony child endangerment this week after cops descended on their $4.1 million home in Arcadia. Inside, they found the couple's huge brood of children which included 17 toddlers aged three or under. Police were initially responding to reports of a two-month-old suffering a traumatic head injury, before search warrant on the home reportedly revealed that they were caring for 15 children inside, aged between two months and 13-years-old. Detectives said six other children had also been moved to other homes. All 21 children were taken into the custody of Department of Children and Family Services. Xuan and Zhang were later released and have not been officially charged. Cops also issued an arrest warrant for their nanny Chunmei Li, 56. Investigators said security cameras inside the home allegedly revealed Li was abusing the children, while questions remain over why Xuan and Zhang bore so many children through surrogacy. Although having dozens of children through surrogates is not illegal, officials said they are investigating the startling find inside the home. Kallie Fell, executive director of the nonprofit Center of Bioethics and Culture, told ABC7 that while the couple may not have broken the law by having so many surrogate children, the situation 'smells of trafficking.' It is unclear what the couple do for work, with public records showing they are connected to a number of investment firms Arcadia police Lt. Kollin Cieadlo said that the couple 'took legal guardianship of those kids' after they were born through surrogates, before Li allegedly abused the children as their nanny. 'The discipline, both verbally and physical, was severe to the point where it supported the beliefs that child abuse was occurring inside the home Cieadlo said. The Arcadia police said the FBI has joined its investigation into a suspected mass-surrogacy operation owned and ran by Xuan and Zhang. Kayla Elliot, one of the surrogate mothers hired by the couple, said she believed that they were clients of a surrogate agency. 'It's horrific, it's disturbing, it's damaging emotionally,' she told ABC7. Elliot said the couple told her they only had one other child, and is now hoping to get custody of the child she bore for them. 'These agencies, we're supposed to trust them and follow their guidance and come to find out this whole thing was a scam, and the parents own the agency - that was not disclosed at all beforehand,' she added. Fell, who is working with Elliot, said that the surrogacy industry is unregulated, and oftentimes, 'anything goes.' 'And these clinics, these agencies are not regulated by any governing body,' she said. 'That to me smells of trafficking... What are the intentions of having that many children at home through these assisted reproductive technologies?'
CBS News
16-07-2025
- CBS News
Southern California couple charged with child endangerment after more than 20 children removed from their home, police say
A Southern California couple has been charged with child endangerment and neglect after more than 20 children were removed from their home in Arcadia, most of whom were born to surrogate mothers, according to police. The children ranged in age from two-months to 13-years-old, but most were between one-year and three-years-old, the Arcadia Police Department said. Investigators believe the surrogate mothers were from around the country and none knew they were carrying embryos for the couple at the same time. Officers were notified by a local hospital about a possible incident of child abuse on May 7, the department said. When officers arrived, they learned that a two-month-old infant had been admitted with a traumatic head injury and intracranial bleeding. During their investigation, detectives served a search warrant at a home in Arcadia and seized surveillance camera footage, the department said. "Upon reviewing the footage, detectives observed that a nanny employed by the child's parents violently shook and struck the infant on May 5, 2025, resulting in the child losing consciousness," a police news release said. Detectives said that even though the child's parents were aware of the incident, they didn't seek quick medical attention, only bringing the baby to the hospital after the infant suffered seizures two days later. On May 9, arrest warrants were issued for the nanny, 56-year-old Chunmei Li, and the parents, Guojun Xuan, 65, and Silvia Zhang, 38, police said. Zhang and Xuan were located and arrested without incident, but Li remains at large. As the investigation continued, police contacted the Department of Children and Family Services, which took 15 children into protective custody. Six others were sent to stay with family members or friends of the couple, police said. Detectives tell CBS News Los Angeles that other nannies employed by the family were also seen abusing all the children at the home on the surveillance camera footage. Both Zhang and Xuan were booked for felony child endangerment and neglect, police said. It was unclear if they would face charges for the agreements with the surrogate mothers. Neighbors say the massive 10,000-square-foot property, worth approximately $4 million, has nine bedrooms and is set up like a hotel, with a lobby and suite-like rooms. "And (it has) like a round, what I can only describe as a hotel desk and a gentleman sitting behind it like a clerk," said Art Romero, who lives in the area. Detectives tell CBS News Los Angeles it's unclear if the family planned to place the children into permanent housing elsewhere or keep them, but that the mother told them she always wanted a very large family. The couple hasn't responded to request for comment from CBS News Los Angeles. Police urge anyone who knows more to contact them at (626) 574-5168.
