Authorities are searching for a paroled sex offender who allegedly led them on an hours-long chase through California in a motor home with his two young children inside Tuesday night.

The children, a 3-year-old boy and an 11-month-old girl, were found safe after the RV stopped in an orchard north of Bakersfield after a 100-mile northern freeway drive. But the suspect was nowhere to be found.

Stephen Houk, 46, is believed to be armed. Houk is a registered sex offender who was on parole following a conviction in Oregon for felony sodomy, records indicated.

The crime involved sex with a child under 14-years-old but the circumstances were "too egregious to discuss," Los Angeles County sheriff's Capt. Darren Harris told reporters.

Houk had a fight with his wife Tuesday morning and apparently took the children, authorities said.

That afternoon, Los Angeles police tried to detain the parolee, who was wanted for evading authorities, child abduction, child endangerment and weapons violations, a department statement said.

That prompted a chase that moved from nearby Hollywood north.

The motor home, a Dolphin 2740 more than 25 feet long with a bicycle strapped to the back, cruised along several freeways at highway speeds.

As many as 15 California Highway Patrol cars followed but didn't close in following reports that Houk might have a gun with the two children in the vehicle.

The hours-long pursuit moved onto freeways, including Interstate 5 through the Grapevine and into Bakersfield, some 100 miles away in Kern County, where the RV changed directions several times on State Route 99. The motor home finally stopped on a road in an orchard north of town where authorities surrounded it.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.