The ex-girlfriend of a man charged in a series of sexual attacks across Ottawa said she had no indication if he was up to anything.

Charlene Lafleur said she broke up with Gavin Griffiths about two weeks ago and can't believe he's facing 27 charges in connection with eight incidents from April 14 to May 7.

"It just makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about that," she said. "In reality it was Gavin Sean Griffiths, my dumbass ex-boyfriend."

Lafleur said Griffiths "changed" after the birth of her baby - from a sensitive nice guy to someone she fought with more and more until she started seeing someone else.

She said she hadn't talked to him since the breakup but called him after police released a sketch of the suspect that looked like him.

"He said ‘No, why the hell would I do that?'" she said.

Lafleur said Griffiths called her four times from prison Friday, saying he didn't do it.

He was still staying with Lafleur's family up until his arrest on Thursday.

"He has no family, I wasn't going to let him stay on the street," said Louise Papineau, Lafleur's step-mother. "He was fine and then for that to happen . . . it was a shocker."

Griffiths is facing eight counts of sexual assault, nine counts of mischief, nine counts of breach of probation and one count of criminal harassment.

He's accused of being the man who snuck up behind women as they walked alone, pulling down their pants and sexually touching them on many occasions.

Police said they have him in custody until his next court appearance, scheduled for Tuesday.

They aren't looking for any other suspects.

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Catherine Lathem