Metro-east crime roundup: Sexual assault charges and an insanity plea. What to know

Three separate criminal cases in the metro-east region reached milestones in court, including an insanity ruling, a not guilty plea and a prison sentencing. The cases involve a Troy man who attacked his mother, a longtime high school coach accused of sexual assault and a Bethalto woman sentenced for abusing a teenage boy.

Here are key takeaways:

• Gabriel H. Kammerer, who was 20 at the time of a December 2023 knife attack on his mother in Troy, was found not guilty by reason of insanity on June 22 by Madison County Circuit Judge Amy Maher.
• The judge ordered Kammerer confined indefinitely in a secure setting, but no longer than June 1, 2049, after ruling he “lacked the capacity to understand the criminality of his conduct” due to mental illness, court records show.
• Chad E. Malawy, 54, a longtime Nashville Community High School teacher and coach, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse — both Class 1 felonies — along with four Class A misdemeanor obstruction-related charges.
• Charging documents allege Malawy sexually assaulted and abused a teenage student from mid-January to June 2025, then asked her to delete emails and provide false information about the contact; Judge Daniel Janowski released him with GPS monitoring pending trial.
• Amy L. Bryant, 44, of Bethalto, was sentenced Monday to 13 years in prison in Madison County Circuit Court after pleading guilty to criminal sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy who was an acquaintance of her family.
• Bryant admitted to a sexual relationship with the boy between Oct. 1, 2023, and April 15, 2025, and must register as a sex offender for life under the terms of her conviction.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.