NEWTON, N.J. (RNS) A woman who made no effort to feed her four starving children, telling them God would provide for them as they grew weaker and hungrier, was found guilty of child endangerment charges on Friday (Jan. 22).

Jurors took just 30 minutes to reach a verdict in the case against Estelle Walker, 50, whose children were so malnourished they could hardly speak when police found them in a lakeside cabin arranged by her church in 2006.

The children — ages 8, 9, 11 and 13 at the time — have since recovered.

In finding Walker guilty, jurors rejected the unusual defense claim that the New York City woman was not responsible for her actions because of her strict religious beliefs and what her lawyer called an extreme reliance on God.

Walker’s lawyer, Ronald Nicola, argued his client was delusional and did not willingly deny her children food.

“She did not act to cause harm to her children,” Nicola told jurors in hisclosing arguments. “She was acting on her stringent religious beliefs that God would provide. She lost weight when they lost weight … She and the children prayed together.”

Walker’s beliefs have been a recurring theme throughout the month-long trial. At one point, when Nicola complained to Judge N. Peter Conforti that his client was refusing to participate in her defense, Walker passively told the judge, “God will defend me.”

In a separate discussion, she told Conforti she had been directed by prayer to reject a plea bargain that would have allowed her to go free with time already served. She now faces up to 10 years in prison for each of the four counts of second-degree endangerment.

In his closing arguments, Assistant Prosecutor Francis Koch portrayed Walker as a cunning, evil woman who used her religion as an excuse to get a rent-free lakeside cabin at the expense of her children’s health. Walker, he said, could have asked for help from friends and family members.

“Instead,” Koch said, “she did nothing.”