Couple accused in surrogacy scandal to seek release from jail, attorneys say

LOS ANGELES -- An Arcadia couple facing child abuse-related charges in a surrogacy scandal plan to seek release from jail at an upcoming court hearing, according to their attorneys.

Guojun Xuan, 66, and his partner, Silvia Zhang, have been charged with conspiracy to commit child abuse and witness intimidation. Both pleaded not guilty during their arraignment. Prosecutors have alleged the couple had 21 children, misled surrogates through their surrogacy company and employed nannies who abused children at the residence.

During an earlier court hearing, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman described the residence as a "house of horrors."

READ MORE: Attorney explains why the father in California surrogacy scandal wanted 21 kids

"This house can only be described as house of horrors for these incredibly young children," Hochman said.

According to court documents, video recordings allegedly show nannies carrying out "bare-buttock spankings, kicks, repeated strikes to the hands with sticks, blows with shoes, hits to the head, body, and hands, and prolonged squatting as punishment."

Prosecutors had sought bail of $100 million for each defendant, citing allegations that Xuan had access to about 200 bank accounts and at least 70 corporate accounts with a combined value of more than $100 million. A judge ultimately set bail at $20 million each.

Defense attorney Mitchell Krems previously challenged the prosecution's bail request.

"The amount is absurd. It's $100 million per each defendant," Krems said.

After that hearing, Krems argued his clients were being unfairly targeted because they are Chinese and have a large family.

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"He's being unfairly scrutinized because he has so many children. There's no law against having all these children, none at all, so my client is not abusive whatsoever," Krems said.

The couple was scheduled to return to court Monday, but Xuan did not appear because of a medical issue, according to their attorneys. Zhang's hearing was postponed until Friday.

Attorneys for the couple told ABC7 that they plan to ask for both defendants to be released from jail during Friday's hearing.

The case remains pending.