you can tell a person has sunken into his gambling vices if he has already done crimes like that grandpa who kidnapped a kid for ransom. it's probably not his first, he must have stolen lots before this like jewelry or so. it can be hard for this old dog to stop gambling as he is addicted. even in prison, he will still gamble that's for sure.
hard for someone to resist when he has money and can easily access a platform gamble. he doesn't just need community support but things to get busy about.
You are correct before committing such a henious crime this grandpa might have committed others which never came out in public. That is what chronic addicts do and since he was not caught previously he thought this time too he will walk away with this crime. Old man got overconfident and now will rot in jail for this crime.
Or maybe it was his first time and that is the reason why he got caught because he didn't know how things like these actually work and how he should do it, after all, kidnapping a kid, keeping him/her somewhere safe, and then making a ransom call and then collecting the money, all these things are not easy to do especially for someone who is already aged, though what he did is wrong but I believe he meant no harm for the kid, or maybe he could harm the kid if he was refused the money he asked for, we never know.
However, what we learn from this is that you shouldn't believe anyone at all these days because even the people who live with you might be doing something bad on your back and aren't letting you know by becoming sweet and loving and caring, the world has become a dangerous place.
I disagree that today's world is untrustworthy. Can we judge everyone by the conduct of a few? No way. The world was constantly perilous. Focusing on the shadows and dismissing the many acts of kindness, compassion, and empathy causes dread. Insinuating that the aged kidnapper meant no damage to the child bothers me. How is a traumatic act benign? A child's mental health suffers greatly. Thus, saying a damaging act may be done harmlessly is an oxymoron.