A modern spin on it would be like:

The son is accused of drug trafficking

The father: “I can’t access the cloud drive account on [Site Name]”

The son: “If you ever remember the password and get in, delete the account. That’s where my (drug trade) ledger is”

Overnight, the FBI file a subpoena to the cloud company requesting a copy of any files on any of [the father]'s accounts. Within days, they compiled and send the info to the FBI.

[The son]'s defence attorney got a copy of the files due to the discovery process, and passed it on to the father.

The father: “Son, I don’t know how, but your lawyer just sent me an email late afternoon with all the family photos”