Gainesville man sentenced to 7 years in prison after arrest for solicitation of a minor

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Norick Liu, 58, has been sentenced to seven years in state prison, followed by eight years of sexual offender probation, following an arrest for solicitation of a minor.

Liu was initially arrested in September 2023 after an undercover Gainesville Police Department officer posed as a 13-year-old boy on a social network app and connected with Liu. The officer, still posing as a 13-year-old boy, gave Liu a cell phone number to continue the conversation by text message.

While texting with the officer, Liu reportedly claimed to be 26 years old and engaged in sexually explicit conversation, including sending sexually explicit photos to the presumed 13-year-old. Liu reportedly suggested meeting at the boy’s residence and instructed the boy how to prepare for their sexual encounter; after arranging a meeting, he reportedly said he would bring coconut oil for lubrication and a condom for protection.

Liu drove to meet the presumed 13-year-old for the purpose of having a sexual encounter and was contacted by officers and arrested at 2305 NW 13th Street.

A search incident to arrest reportedly produced a condom in Liu’s pocket and coconut oil in the car.

Post Miranda, Liu reportedly acknowledged sending the texts received by the officer but claimed that despite discussing a sexual encounter, he wasn’t necessarily going to have sex with the boy. He reportedly admitted that he brought a condom and coconut oil for the encounter.

A subsequent investigation revealed that Liu was also sharing and soliciting sexually explicit images with a 17-year-old child. Liu additionally made plans to meet with this child but the child became uncomfortable with Liu’s advances and ultimately stopped talking to him. The child believed that Liu was in his 20s.

In April, Liu entered a plea of nolo contendere to charges of traveling to meet a minor, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, directing or promoting a sexual performance by a child, and possession of obscene material. According to the plea document, the maximum sentence for the charges is 40 years in prison. The plea document requested five years in prison, followed by 10 years of sex offender probation, with additional conditions of designation as a sexual offender, obtaining a psycho-sexual evaluation and following recommended treatment, and no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18 years.

On April 25, Judge James Colaw sentenced Liu to seven years in prison on the charges relating to the 17-year-old child, followed by eight years of sex offender probation. Judge Colaw sentenced him to five years in prison on the charges relating to the officer posing as a 13-year-old, to be served concurrently with the first sentence.